Racing hearts, sweaty hands, sharp breathing, and shaky arms: these are problems the JROTC cadets face when they’re preparing to shoot their air rifles for competitions. Staying calm and keeping a cool head is the key to success when it comes to JROTC shooting competitions.

This year at Bowie, two cadets have scored high enough on their in-school competitions to qualify for the 2016 JROTC Service Championship in Anniston, Alabama. The cadet who got the highest marks at the 2015 Texas State All Service JROTC Air Rifle Championship was junior Hope Ritchie.

Ritchie was a finalist and scored seventh overall at the contest. Bowie is one of the many schools that has recently incorporated this increasingly popular sport in its range of electives.

“Three-Position Air Rifle Shooting is the most popular and fastest growing form of shooting sports competition,” JROTC Colonel Robert Downey said. “Competitors fire at targets at a distance of ten meters in three different positions.”

Being a sophomore and making nationals is a big deal for any organization but for JROTC it’s a major accomplishment because of how many people are involved in the program nationwide.

“It feels great because I know that I’m not done yet and that I am still progressing,” sophomore Ray Sierras said. “My main goal in marksmanship is to go precision. I am still a ways from it, but I just have to keep positive and keep shooting.”

Ritchie is able to keep her nerves under control long enough to compete in contests like this.

“We wouldn’t get punished for not winning as long as we tried our best.” Ritchie said.

Although this is a great opportunity for both of the Bulldog cadets, it can also add a lot of pressure because they have to maintain their school work throughout their training.

“It is challenging when you have competitions before and after school,” Sierras said. “But we try to use our class time to the best of our ability.”

As well as the cadets, Downy was excited to participate because of how they competed last year.

“The Bowie JROTC varsity marksmanship team qualified and participated in the 2015 JROTC Service Championships in February of 2015, this being our first in five years of existence,” Downey said.

JROTC is a team building sport where many admirable qualities are learned, Downy points out.

“Although the team did not qualify for Nationals, they gained valuable experience, learned valuable lessons, and set their sights on working even harder to make Nationals in 2016,” Downey said.

Though the tension is high during competition, JROTC fully prepares their students for their tournaments and is like a family to many, including Richie.

“Sometimes my nerves get to me,” Ritchie said. “But I don’t really get nervous before the competitions at school because I really like everyone in marksmanship and I’m comfortable.”

As freshman, most people try to find their place and Ritchie emphasizes that JROTC is the place where they can feel comfortable and expand on a lot of skills.

“I joined JROTC as a freshman to try and meet people and so I could sort of find my place,” Ritchie said. “To me, it was a way to meet new people, but I ended up really enjoying it.”

Ritchie isn’t the only person at Bowie who’s found their place in JROTC. Sierras is another cadet from Bowie who qualified for nationals this year.

“I’m in JROTC because I’ve always thought the military was cool,” Sierras said. “But when I was in middle school I thought that being in the military was something I might be interested in so I just went into JROTC to get a little taste of it all and I’ve loved it ever since the first day.”

The marksmen team has been working towards their goal of placing in this year’s Regional Championship of 2016.

“This year, the team qualified 13th in the Air Force going into the Regional Championship in Anniston, Alabama last month. After two days of stiff competition, the team finished tenth in the Air Force,” Downey said.  “The team was only 31 points short of qualifying for Nationals against the Army, Navy, and Marines. Three of the four varsity team members were returning shooters from 2015 and will compete again in 2017,” Downey said.

Ritchie finished second in the nation, leaving her the top shooter at Bowie.

“Hope Ritchie was the team’s top shooter again this year and finished tied for second in the Air Force after the team competition,” Downey said. “Hope is ranked number one in the Air Force Individual Sport category and qualifies to go to Nationals at the end of this month.”

As her instructor, Downy recognizes the work she has put in to reach this goal.

“She put in a lot of hard work over the summer and many hours before school and on the weekends practicing her skill,” Downey said.

Hope’s high ranking is notable for the JROTC program and its participants.

“Her teammates, the Corps of Cadets, and instructors in the JROTC program are all extremely proud of Hope’s accomplishments,” Downey said.