The Del Valle HS Army JROTC Conquest Rifles and Hanks JROTC precision rifle teams competed in the 2012 National Army JROTC Air Rifle Championship Feb. 10-11 at the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) South Marksmanship center in Anniston, Alabama. The Del Valle team finished in 2nd place and Hanks placed 12th. As a result the Del Valle team earned an invitation to the 2012 National All Service JROTC Air Rifle Championship to be held on March 23-24 in Anniston, Alabama.  Although the Hanks team did not qualify, their top gun Jessica Rodriguez earned an invitation.  This is a first for Hanks and shows continued excellence for Ysleta ISD.

The road to the championship began last fall as over 2,200 Army JROTC Cadets from 275 Army JROTC units participated in the JROTC postal/Brigade championship competition.  From that initial group, only 263 cadets qualified for the 2012 National Army JROTC National Air Rifle Championship. 

The event itself was a two-day three position air rifle 3x20 competition where both team and individuals competed for medals, trophies and an invitation to the 2012 National All Service JROTC Air Rifle Championship.  The top 5 teams and top 6 at large individuals received the invitation.  The Conquest Rifles scored a two-day aggregate of 4596, 30 points behind the first place team from Ozark HS, Missouri. 

After the two-day competition an Olympic style final was conducted for the top 8 individuals where DV’s Kevin Cruz and Jasmine Juarez participated.  Medals were awarded through tenth place with Cruz winning the championship followed by Juarez in 6th place and DV’s Jose Arras receiving the 10th place medal.  Hanks’ Jessica Rodriguez finished 14th and won an at large individual invitation.