Coming back from winter break, cadets from Selma High’s MCJROTC are back to competing against other JROTC programs from high schools around California. Their latest competition was at Reedley High School on January 31, 2026. Composed of three separate events, Selma was competing against high school schools such as Hanford West, El Dorado, Turlock, Dinuba, Reedley, Lemoore, and Reseda. Cadets from Selma High were rewarded with “Overall Winner” for the competition.
SHS MCJROTC Marksmanship Varsity team will also be going to nationals in Sandy, Utah, for the 2026 JROTC Three-Position Postal Championship on February 5-7.
Brain Brawl is one of the three events at Reedley High School JROTC competition. It’s a fast-paced, Jeopardy-style academic competition where cadets form small teams and are asked questions that can generally be about U.S. history, current events, and general knowledge. This year, a total of two cadets from Selma participated: Cadet First Class Lopez and Cadet First Class Jose. 9
Aerial Drone was another event that occurred and took place in Reedley’s High School main gym. This year teams of two cadets, one who pilots the drone and the other who communicates with the pilot and does other tasks, navigate the drone through an obstacle course. The teams also flew the drone in a separate pre-planned layout where ping pong balls were spread out on small, elevated structures. The two cadets were tested on how well they work together to knock down the ping pong balls to the ground and are given a score on the total number of balls on the floor after two minutes.
This year, the two cadets from Selma for aerial drone were Cadet First Class Lopez and Cadet First Class Jose.
Marksmanship is the third event. It’s a precision shooting event where cadets use an .177 caliber air rifle with a pellet to hit a paper target from 10 meters. These cadets shoot in three separate positions: kneeling, prone (a cadet lies on their stomach), and standing. In this event, cadets shoot 20 times in each position in a 25 minute time frame, with a 5 minute time period in between for transition between positions and practice shootings to make any adjustments to their rifles or to their setups.
Selma had eight cadets who participated in marksmanship.
“I felt kind of nervous, but I felt pretty good,” commented Cadet Private French when questioned about how he felt towards the event before completing it.
For a majority of the cadets this year, they’re still new with participating in a marksmanship competition against other schools in person.
“I felt somewhat nervous, but I felt prepared,” stated Cadet Corporal Contecco. “I felt decent about my shots.”
Although a majority of the cadets from Selma were still new, many still found the competition enjoyable.
Selma MCJROTC’s Varsity marksmanship team is often regarded as exceptionally good in California as they frequently qualify for national competitions. This year it’s no different as this year’s team qualified for and are competing in the 2026 JROTC Three-Position Postal Championship on February 5-7. This year’s team includes: Cadet First Lieutenant Gallardo, Cadet Gunnery Sergeant Cortez, Cadet Sergeant Orozco, and Cadet Sergeant Estrada. The team is coached by First Sergeant Romero. Gallardo and Estrada are currently ranked in the top 16th Marine Corps Sporter Individual Qualifiers among thousands of cadets nationwide.
