Waimea High School JROTC students gave their all during two state competitions held on O’ahu and the Big Island. Waimea High School JROTC students prepared and trained with the help of Army instructors Major Victor Aguilar and First Sergeant Don
Waimea High School JROTC students gave their all during two state competitions held on O’ahu and the Big Island.
Waimea High School JROTC students prepared and trained with the help of Army instructors Major Victor Aguilar and First Sergeant Don Glover during their Winter Break in preparation for these two major state competitions.
On Dec. 21, Waimea High School’s JROTC Menehune Battalion cadets traveled to Schofield Barracks military base on O’ahu to compete in the annual Adventure Team Training (ATT) competition where high school JROTC units throughout the state meet to compete in various physical and mental challenges.
Events included: a 10-mile run, a one-mile swim, an obstacle course, tug-o-war, rope bridging, hasty rappel, first aid, casualty carry and a physical training test consisting of pushups, sit-ups and a two-mile run.
Team leaders Skye Andrade and Marjovic Soliva led the following cadets in the two-day competition: Brad Silva, Bo Domingcil, John Tagavilla, Chantelle Briones, Jessica Jacintho, Reynold Dela Cruz, Elizabeth Faildo, Chasen Sherman, Dawa Bunao, Donovan Manguba-Glover, Jonathan Manguba-Glover, Libby Keyser, and Somer Rickards.
Ritchael Cariaga, an alumni, also attended and provided support for the students who had to sacrifice their Winter Ball in order to compete.
Waimea’s team placed sixth overall out of 33 teams and brought back a first-place trophy for the rope bridging event.
The Menehune Battalion was again represented by 25 cadets on Jan. 18-19 when the cadets demonstrated the qualities and the will to compete in JROTC extra-curricular off-island activities when the battalion traveled to Keaukaha Military Reservation and Hilo High School.
There they competed in the annual Big Island Adventure Challenge (BIAC). There the JROTC cadets competed in the same type of events as ATT however, it culminated in an 11.2 mile run around Kilauea Crater.
The Waimea team had the distinction of traveling the farthest in order to compete in this competition and were featured on the front page of a Big Island local newspaper after placing high overall at the competition consisting of 35 teams from across the state.
The Menehune Battalion earned a first place trophy in Hasty Rappel while placing second in Rope Bridging, the obstacle course known as the Burm Buster.
In the 11.2 Kilauea crater rim run, the Menehunes finished second, a testament to the cadets’ hard and dedicated practice sessions that ran from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily, supplementing their daily after-school practices.
John Tagavilla led the following team members: Bo Domingcil, Reynold Dela Cruz, Beau Ramos, Marjovic Soliva, and Peterson Dela Cruz. Dustin Fontinilla led Anthony Acain, Dawa Bunau, Brandon Damasco, Ruben Dela Cruz and Kenneth Gray.
Virginia Aguilar led an all girls team consisting of Chantelle Briones, Randilynn Dela Cruz, Jessica Jacinto, Jenna Nakamatsu and Dorothy Silva.
Donovan Manguba-Glover led a combined team consisting of Christopher Aguilar, Grant Kagawa, Jonathan Manguba-Glover, Mitzi Seto and Chasen Sherman. Matthew Jimenez and alumni Kristen Aguilar and Richael Cariaga provided additional support.
The Menehune Battalion under the command of Major Victor Aguilar and First Sergeant Don Glover looks forward to new challenges and is determined to train harder for next year’s competitions.
