Manta Ray’s drill teams headed to nat’ls

The Manta Ray Battalion of Saipan Southern High School won first place overall in the Annual Drill Competition, with both of the school’s Armed and Unarmed Drill teams being named the winners during an online ceremony last March 2. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

The Manta Ray Battalion of Saipan Southern High School won first place overall in the Annual Drill Competition, with both of the school’s Armed and Unarmed Drill teams being named the winners during an online ceremony last March 2.

Their victory means both team will represent the CNMI at the Golden Bear National Drill Meet in Torrance, California, later this year.

The drill competition was held at Saipan Southern High School’s drill pad last Feb. 24, 2023, with both the Armed and Unarmed teams showcasing their inspection, regulation, color guard, and exhibition routines to evaluators from the Middle School Leadership Corps.

Although the scores were not immediately announced, the results were shared during an online ceremony via Google Meet on March 2.

“The drill team we have this year was excellent. They sacrificed so much of their time spending with their friends, loved ones, or significant others just to be here, to come and practice, to try and achieve a goal that we all strive to have; which is first place overall for both teams,” said cadet LTC Julius Torres. “Honestly, I think this year I had a good feeling that both teams would make it because of the time and effort that we put practicing and the amount of help that we’ve received.”

He credits the assistance of CSM (ret.) Richard Basa, SGM (ret.) Joaquin Kiyoshi, MSG (ret.) Ronald Graham, and their new Army instructor, SFC (ret.) Deyna Sunderland, and the JROTC cadet alumni their success.

Armed Team Regulation and Color Guard commander cadet CSM Anthony Villagomez said he’s quite happy for both teams “because we both worked really hard. And we’re making history here; both teams won, both teams are going to California, and I’m just excited to see the results of our hard work in nationals.”

Cadet SFC Kiani Pangelinan, who is a member of the Unarmed Drill team, said the competition “meant a lot to me because of all the hard work our teams put into it to get that first place trophy. The drill team is like a second family to me, so it felt amazing to be able to accomplish this win with them and overall. I’m just very proud of all of us.”

Cadet 2LT Jaren Lifoifoi, who is an Armed Drill team member, described the process as a journey, “with all of us contributing toward this, with the sacrifices we made throughout this whole process. This finally paid off. Both teams made it, both teams are first place, and both teams are going to Cali.”

Another Armed Drill team member, cadet 2LT Antonio Cabrera, said, “It’s pretty exciting because both teams get to go to California to represent the CNMI. Despite all the challenges the team had within each other, and within their personal lives and everything, we all managed to come together as one and practice our hardest and get the No. 1 spot for all categories and No. 1 spot for first place overall.”

Another Unarmed Drill team member, cadet 2LT Logan Mendiola, congratulates all the schools in the CNMI within the JROTC program. “Winning first place…means a lot and we couldn’t have done this without our commanders. We proved so many people wrong and will keep doing it, and we’ll keep pushing. Nothing would get in the middle of the road for us. Period.”

Most of the winning cadets were first-time participants in this year’s competition. (PR)