This past Saturday, GHS’s Marine Corps JROTC Drill and Rifle Team went to Reading, Pennsylvania for a JROTC meet. There were drill teams, shooting teams, and PT teams present, all competing for trophies and prizes. Commanders for this drill meet included sophomore Laura Ryan, juniors Matthew Johnson and Nicolle Fernandes, and freshman Zaila Dort.

Gloucester’s shooting team won second place overall out of the schools present. For individual shooting, freshman Kylie O’Connell won second place, and Gloucester senior Joseph Porter, the #1 shooter in the state.

“It was really fun to travel out of state and it was a really cool experience. I’m also very proud of myself and the team and I can’t wait for the next time we have a chance to compete against other schools!” said O’Connell.

More surprisingly, the Scarlet Thunder drill team won third place in unarmed exhibition, which was the first trophy won for exhibition this 2018-2019 school year. The team was commanded by Fernandes. Johnson led the drill team to third place in unarmed Colorguard.

“Winning for the first time this year was one of the proudest moments for me. We’ve been working nonstop for the past couple months and we felt really good about our routine, so although it wasn’t shocking, it was more of a relief to be able to come home with a trophy and some bragging rights. More than that though, I’m incredibly proud of the team and so glad that we all got to have that euphoric feeling of winning, for some, it was their first time winning at a competition, and with all we’ve been through as a team to get here? We deserved it,” said Ryan.