Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) cadets from across the United States participated in the NJROTC Air Rifle Championship here, Feb. 12-14.

The three-day event held at the Utah Valley Convention Center marked the second stage of the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) hosted annual competition for cadets who qualified from the NJROTC postal competition, where cadets fire at their targets then mail in their results to be scored, held last fall.

The competition consisted of two days of firing by cadets, in which two divisions of competitors, Sporter and Precision, vied for gold, silver and bronze medals. Sporter-class air rifles are designed for junior competitors and are characterized by their light weight, low cost and outstanding accuracy for basic marksmanship training. Precision-class air rifles are higher in cost and require additional specialized clothing to be worn by the competitor.

Winning teams and competitors were determined based on their two-day aggregate scores.

Competitors from Turlock High School in Turlock, California, captured top sporter team honors for this location in the Navy championship. The winning Turlock High School team included cadets Larry Maloney, Nicolas McKeon, Adriana Valencia and Dorian Macintosh.

"I'm exceptionally proud of my team for keeping it together mentally during the competition," said McKeon, a junior at Turlock High School and team captain. "With these types of competitions you can drop off easily. We will do the same to prepare for the next competition as we do all the time, shoot and support each other."

"This is the highest my cadets have shot and we are looking forward to competing in Anniston," said retired Marine Maj. Kelly Cross, senior naval science instructor at Turlock High School. "I always tell them "shoot your shot," relax and shoot what you normally shoot."

The top sporter individual in Provo was Cassandra Rodriguez from Parlier High School in Parlier, California. Rodriguez finished first in Phoenix and third overall for the Navy championship last year.

"I am very happy to again come out on top for this competition," said Rodriguez, a senior at Parlier High School. "It was a nerve wracking couple of days and my heart was pounding before the finals. I thought of the friends that I had made during the competition and that calmed me."

Los Alamos High School in Los Alamos, New Mexico, was awarded top precision team for the second straight year and had the top individual in Provo, Samantha Miller. Los Alamos team members also included Joanna O'Neill, Stephanie Nielsen and Holly Hayes.

"The top finish really means a lot considering how many hours I put into practice," said Miller, a junior at Los Alamos. "It shows everyone what that hard work can do. I don't want to stress about the next step, but just have fun."

"We will continue to excel as we have a pretty young team this year," said O'Neill, a senior and team captain at Los Alamos High School.

"I am extremely happy to win back to back in the western location," said retired Lt. Cmdr. Wesley Schmaker, senior naval science instructor at Los Alamos High School. "We are going to work hard the next couple of weeks to get better and improve on last year's score."

Teresa Casey, program analyst with the operations department of Naval Service Training Command's citizenship development office in Pensacola, Fla., attended the competition and presented the competitors with their awards.

"Observing the numerous teams and individual accomplishments of thousands of cadets just enjoying the sport or pursuing higher educational goals through marksmanship scholarship opportunities are among the most rewarding benefits of my career thus far," Casey said.

This CMP event utilized mobile electronic targets that can be set up across the United States for competitions away from the marksmanship centers in Port Clinton, Ohio and Anniston, Alabama.

After results are tabulated from the other regionals in Anniston, Alabama and Port Clinton, Ohio, the overall top seven sporter teams, top eight sporter individuals, top five precision teams and top six precision individuals will represent NJROTC in the 2016 National All-service JROTC Championship, scheduled Mar. 17-19 at the CMP Marksmanship Center in Anniston, Alabama.

The NJROTC program is overseen by Rear Adm. Stephen C. Evans, commander, Naval Service Training Command (NSTC) at Naval Station Great Lakes.

NJROTC is a citizenship development program that instills in high school students, in U.S. secondary educational institutions, the value of citizenship and service to the United States.

NSTC oversees 98 percent of initial officer and enlisted accessions training for the Navy, as well as the Navy's Citizenship Development program. NSTC includes Recruit Training Command (RTC), the Navy's only boot camp; NROTC at more than 160 colleges and universities across the country; Officer Training Command (OTC) in Newport, R.I.; NJROTC and Navy National Defense Cadet Corps (NNDCC) citizenship development programs at more than 600 high schools worldwide.

For more information on NJROTC visit: www.njrotc.navy.mil/

For more information about NSTC, visit: www.netc.navy.mil/nstc/ or visit the NSTC Facebook pages at www.facebook.com/navalservicetraining/.

For more news from Naval Service Training Command, visit www.navy.mil/.