BY DELICIA POP

On Saturday, Oct. 1, the Viera High School Army JROTC program competed in its first JROTC Raider competition for the 2011-2012 school year. The competition was held at Viera with schools from Cocoa, Cocoa Beach, Rockledge, Merritt Island, Astronaut and Heritage participating.
Overall, Viera’s male and female teams
performed well.

The Viera Male Team 1 Raiders for this competition were: Josh Bronzell, Paul Cepeda, John Dockery andrew Haddad, Cody Herrington, Mark Miller, Colton Newton and Damian Soto. As a team, they landed two first-place trophies in the cross country and rope bridge events. They received two second-place trophies for the physical fitness test and team two-mile run. Overall, the Viera Male Team 1 Raiders placed second, while individually, Mark Miller placed second for the
physical fitness test.

The Male Team 2 Raiders were: James Herrington, Wyatt Howard, Alec Kennedy, Michael Laabs, Antonio Maldonado, Valentin Maldonado, Tommy McIntyre and Levy Thomas. This was the first competition for the young team that placed a remarkable third in the rope bridge event.

This was the first Raider Meet whereViera High School entered an all female Raider Team. Team members included: Logan Bagwell, Kirsten Chiles, Nikki Clark, Jenn Fleming, Mikaela Keaton, Katherine Rodrigues and Kaylynn Webster. The young women came in third place for the physical fitness test, cross country rescue and rope bridge events. These results are sensational for a team that didn’t exist prior to this meet.

The outstanding weather as well as the Viera Hawk Army JROTC Booster Club support, added to the trophies and camaraderie made the day even more enjoyable.