By RON FLAHERTY

The first weekend of February, Patrick Henry Naval Junior ROTC attended the Area 11 Superbowl and came out as champions. The team placed first overall and qualified for nationals. Congratulations!

An outstanding job to all cadets who attended and helped achieve this goal. Thank you, too, to all of the supportive parents who came to cheer on the team and to our amazing cadre that we all love so much!

Feb. 1, 2020. This was the day that it all came down to. The day marked in every cadet’s calendar. The day we dreamed of with hours of practice, hard work, and dedication. Here’s how the day played out:

9:30 a.m.: Personnel Inspection (Every question memorized, every uniform made into perfection)

10 a.m.: Drill Time (Everyone ready to plant, pivot, and step. In unison you can hear every toss of a rifle and stomp of a drill shoe)

Noon: Athletics (Students prepared to break their body down by pushing past their limits)

12:45 p.m.: Academics (What did the cadets learn, memorize, and study?)

4:15 p.m.: Relays (The cadets need to be the fastest, use long strides, and put a win up on the board)

These are all things the cadets had heard hundreds of times — the things that they’ve done to prepare for this day. The cadets put everything into this competition because they wanted to be on top. And for the Patriots NJROTC, it was worth every single bit of dedication, because at 5:30 p.m., the words were spoken: “First place, Patrick Henry!”

History was made and the Henry cadets will continue to make it. Next stop is Pensacola, Florida for nationals.

Amazing job to all the schools that were part of this Navy League journey. Special congratulations to Paloma Valley Battle Cats and Troy Black Warriors! Henry looks forward to representing the West Coast with you!

State champion achievements by category

Here is the breakdown of how Henry performed in the various NJROTC competitions:

Color Guard: first place
Unarmed Basic: second place
Armed Basic: first place
Unarmed Exhibition: fourth place
Armed Exhibition: second place
Curl ups: first place
Pushups: first place
16×100 Yard Relay: third place
8×200 Meter Relay: second place
Academics Exam: fourth place
40-man Inspection: second place
Overall Athletics: first place
Overall Drill: second place
Overall Meet: first place

— Ron Flaherty is a Naval Junior ROTC instructor at Patrick Henry High School.