Riverhead NJROTC Wins First Place At Mattituck Regional Drill

Once again, Riverhead's Navy Junior Officers Reserve Training Corp. has taken home top honors.

On Saturday, ten NJROTC units from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut competed in the Southold High School NJROTC Area 4 regional drill competition, held at Mattituck High School.

The top two teams from the meet qualify to compete in the Area 4 Championship Meet, scheduled for May. Forty-five NJROTC cadets from the Riverhead Drill Team competed on Saturday in a variety of events including armed platoon, unarmed platoon, color guard, personal inspection, academics and physical fitness -- and came in first overall.

"The cadets worked extremely hard in the weeks leading up to this drill meet and came to the event focused and determined to qualify for the Area Four championships," said RHS Naval science instructor Lt. Col. Peter  McCarthy. "The armed platoon was the first event of the day and Riverhead was the first team on the Drill Deck at 0800. This team absolutely nailed their routine and set the tone for what would be an outstanding day where the unit brought home seven 1st place trophies--including the Overall First Place trophy. Because the drill meet was so close to home it afforded many friends and family members the opportunity to see the cadets compete, and the cadets did not disappoint."

Noteworthy performances included armed platoon, first place led by Harold Hubbard; unarmed platoon, first place led by Thomas Kopp; color guard, first place led by Rachel Blackmore; inspection team, first place led by Cody Harris; academic team, third place led by Nicholas Deschamps; the push-up competition, first place medal to Brendon Grimes; first year cadet squad, first place led by Dakota Ventresca; first year cadet inspection team, first place let by Gwendolyn Hilles; and first year cadet color guard, third place led by Devon Baxter.

Riverhead has now qualified for the Area 4 championship meet for the sixth consecutive year. The meet will be held in May at a location yet to be determined.