Etowah High's Air Force JROTC male and female teams won the All-Service Raider national championships. The female team's title is its first; River Ridge also competed.

Etowah High School’s Air Force JROTC teams won both the male and the female titles at the All-Service JROTC Raider National Championships last weekend.

It is the male team’s fourth national All-Service title in five years, the Cherokee County School District said Friday. The female team won the title for the first time.

Raider is a team competition for JROTC cadets from every service branch. Teams race through timed fitness and field events, such as a rope bridge, a gauntlet and a cross-country rescue. The championships ran Oct. 30 to Nov. 1 at the Gerald Lawhorn Scouting Base in Molena, Georgia, about an hour south of Atlanta, according to the organizer, Sports Network International. This fall marked the event’s 20th anniversary, its invitation said.

How Etowah won

Both Etowah teams competed at the Masters level, which runs the only female division. Each team’s placings in five events are added up, and the lowest total wins, under the organizer’s scoring rules. The figures below are from the organizer’s official Masters results (PDF).

The Etowah male team, the Eagles, scored 9 points to beat Osborne High School’s 11 in a field of 12 teams. It placed:

  • first in the rope bridge, in 1 minute 58 seconds
  • first in the gauntlet
  • second in the team mountain run and the physical team test
  • third in the cross-country rescue

The Etowah female team, the Lady Eagles, scored 7 points in a field of seven teams. Osborne was second with 13. Etowah placed:

  • first in the team mountain run, the rope bridge and the physical team test
  • second in the gauntlet and the cross-country rescue
Team Division Place Points Teams in division
Etowah High, Eagles Masters male 1st 9 12
Etowah High, Lady Eagles Masters female 1st 7 7
Cherokee High, Lady Warriors Masters female 3rd 19 7
River Ridge High, River Ridge Male Masters male 10th 45 12
Sequoyah High Challenge mixed 8th 44 25
River Ridge High Challenge mixed 13th 61 25

Source: Sports Network International, Masters results and Challenge results.

The district named the Etowah team’s instructors as retired Lt. Col. Stephen Bergey and retired Technical Sgt. Ciarra Malto.

Other Cherokee County teams

Cherokee High School’s female team placed third, its best finish to date, the district said. Cherokee High is in Canton, about 10 miles north.

The organizer’s results also list two other Woodstock-area schools that the district’s announcement did not mention:

  • River Ridge High School’s male team placed 10th of 12 in the Masters male division.
  • River Ridge’s mixed team placed 13th of 25 at the Challenge level and had the second-fastest time in the 4K run.
  • Sequoyah High School’s mixed team placed eighth of 25 at the Challenge level.

What it means for you

Etowah High is on Putnam Ford Drive, with a Woodstock mailing address. Our Etowah High page has the zone map, report card and bell times. River Ridge’s details are on our River Ridge High page, and every Woodstock-area school is on our public schools page.

Spectators can attend the championships. The organizer’s event page carries its spectator information.