After four months of intense competition, Herndon High School’s Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps' (NJROTC) Rifle Team has won the coveted Spicer Cup. The four-person team consisting of Cadets Zach Taylor (senior), Alastair Young (senior), Marshall Wilkins (junior), and Allison Maxwell (freshman) defeated finalist West Potomac High School in the Championship Match, 913 to 859.
Regionally ranked Cadet Zach Taylor took top honors for shooting the leading score, and he led his team to a 911 point average, the highest in the tournament's history. This is the eighth year that Herndon has won since the inception of the competition 11 years ago.
Formed in 2003 by the late LTC Joe Spicer, US Army, retired, of Hayfield High School, the Fairfax County-wide JROTC Rifle League and its tournament include six high schools—Edison (Army), Hayfield (Army), Herndon (Navy), Mount Vernon (Marines), South Lakes (Army), and West Potomac (Army). After shooting single matches against each other, each school receives a tournament seeding. The top four ranked schools then compete in a semi-final/final format.
The Herndon team is coached by CDR Rick Cassara (US Navy, retired) and LTC Kris Young (US Army, retired).
For more information about Herndon High’s outstanding NJROTC program, visit http://www.herndonnjrotc.com/.