On February 28th, 2026, the JROTC Drill Team participated in a national drill competition held at Kofa High School in Yuma, Arizona. Composed of more than 15 SHS cadets, they won eight trophies in total and placed first place overall. In addition, Selma High’s varsity marksmanship team placed seventh place at the 2026 Marine Corps JROTC Air Rifle Championships in Sandy, Utah with Cadet First Lieutenant Gallardo placing fourth place. As a result, Selma’s team will be competing at the 2026 National JROTC Championship (All-Service Rifle Nationals) at Camp Perry, Ohio from March 26th-28th.
Drill is a key component of the Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (MCJROTC) Program. In general it revolves around military precision marching movements—the precise execution of disciplined, synchronized marching in response to verbal commands. In competitions (also referred as drill meets), teams are judged on appearance, uniformity (synchronization), military bearing (such as confidence and professional demeanor), and commands.
For the drill meet at Kofa High School, many felt “nervous and didn’t have much practice” explained Cadet Staff Sergeant Duarte. Although the feeling of nervousness was common, many cadets were able to overcome it.
“I was proud that I overcame some of my nerves for the events, but there is always room for improvement,” said First Class Private Castellanos.
After completing their performance, it was revealed at the award ceremony that Selma High secured high standings in all categories at the competition. In total, they won two 1st place trophies, three 2nd place trophies, and one third place trophy with an additional trophy for a different category. As a result, Selma MCJROTC placed first overall at the 2026 Kofa High School Drill Meet.
“I feel very proud of my Drill cadets and how far they’ve come. Taking first in Kofa was a big deal and now we have one more to go,” expressed C/SSgt Duarte. This feeling of enthusiasm was shared among the experienced drill cadets.
“Kofa was an amazing experience. I’m so proud of my team, more than glad I could be a part of it and to any new cadets next year,” stated Cadet Captain Hayes.
Selma MCJROTC Drill cadets enjoyed bowling at Sunset Lanes & Cinema in Yuma. They had the opportunity to tour some of Marine Corps aircrafts, such as the MV-22B Osprey tiltrotar aircraft and the Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopter (newest and most powerful Marine Corps’ helicopter), at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma.
By coincidence, both Selma High and Kofa High have marksmanship cadets going to the All-Service Rifle Nationals. Selma secured the final team invitation to the All-Service Rifle Nationals for placing seventh at the national competition in Sandy, Utah. This essentially took away the team invitation from Kofa High who placed eighth place at the same competition but still had two cadets who secured individual invitations.
The 2026 National JROTC Championship is organized and hosted by the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) where in total 46 JROTC marksmanship teams and 236 marksmanship cadets from across the United States will compete. From Selma High, the following cadets will be competing: Cadet First Lieutenant Gallardo, Cadet Gunnery Sergeant Cortez, Cadet Sergeant Orozco, and Cadet First Lieutenant Estrada.
“I’m really excited to go to a different state for a sport that I’m passionate about,” said C/GySgt Cortez in regards to going to Ohio. Her teammates share the same sentiment towards the competition.
“I feel many emotions for this upcoming competition, yet I mainly feel excitement and joy… I hope that as a team we again can surpass our previous scores and set a new score for us,” shared C/1stLt Gallardo. This will be C/1stLt Gallardo second consecutive year going to the competition in Ohio. The entire team and their instructor, First Sergeant Romero, will be practicing until the ride to the competition.
