Los Alamos High School NJROTC cadets celebrate their accomplishments at the Regional competition in Sahuarita, Arizona. Courtesy photo

Cadets at attention for inspection during the regional competition. Courtesy photo

LAPS NEWS RELEASE

Thirty-two cadets representing the Los Alamos High School NJROTC program competed against six other schools in the Regional contest in Sahuarita, Arizona earlier this month, earning third place overall. They earned their spot by placing first at the regional qualifiers (Area 20) meet in November 2025.

The competition included an academic test which was completed prior to the meet, a personal inspection of the entire company, unarmed regulation drill, armed regulation drill, mixed color guard, armed exhibition drill, unarmed exhibition drill, and a physical fitness test. The physical fitness test involved pushups, curl-ups, a 16×100 yard sprint, and a 8×200 yard sprint.

Los Alamos earned 1st place in personal inspection, 3rd place in unarmed regulation drill, 1st place in mixed color guard, 3rd place in academics, 1st place in pushups, 3rd place in curl-ups, 3rd place in the 8×200 sprint, and 3rd place in physical training. Individually, Michelle Lo placed 2nd in female pushups, Thomas West placed 2nd in male curl-ups, and Bryan Lee placed 3rd in male pushups.

“The cadets should be extremely proud of themselves and their accomplishments,” noted Petty Officer Matthew Bohlen and Petty Officer Travis Pratt. “They worked very hard and theirwork
paid off!”

Cadets have been practicing and sharpening their skills for this competition two hours a day, five days a week since the beginning of December. They have also competed at other contests around the state. This is the second year the company has traveled to the Regional Competition.

The cadets who traveled to Arizona included:

Jonathan Adams
Noah Banks
Sarah Birocco
Kaycee Chapman
Ashton Cody
Kaylee Colson
Evelyn Drake
Gideon Duplechain
Evelyn Ferguson,
Matthew Haight
Jordan Humphrey
Lilia Keller-Moore
Samuel Keys
Jaden Kim
Jinwoo Kim,
Bryan Lee
Benjamin Lenhart
Michelle Lo
River Muzzie
Grace Norman
Marcus Oviedo
Darius Patton
Desean Patton
Isabella Pearson
Lacey Portillos
Lilli Robinson
Maya Snowden
Isabel Stoica
Madalyn Sutton
Alena Trujillo
Thomas West
Emma Wolf

Los Alamos High School will host the NJROTC annual Area Manager’s Inspection on Wednesday, Feb. 25. Their next competition will be at the Capital City Drill Meet on March 14 at Santa Fe High School.