WAIMEA — Five Waimea High School JROTC cadets — Rochelle Uri, Fredy Padamada, Gian Gawaran, Rhomsen Fermin and Alexandria Bueno — will be firing air rifles in Sandy, Utah, today and Saturday.
Retired U.S. Army Col. Vincent Lee Freeman Jr. announced on Tuesday that for the fourth year in a row, the Waimea Army JROTC Rifle Team qualified to compete in the 20-state Western Region JROTC Service Regional Championships that will be held in Utah this weekend.
“This is amazing,” said Waimea High School Principal Mahina Anguay in an email. “Congratulations to the Menehune Battalion. You make us proud.”
Freeman said the Waimea High School Air Rifle Team made up of Padamada, Uri, Lee Ann A. Saniatan and Trislyn Calixterio-Martinez qualified for and competed in the Junior Air Rifle National Championships in the Sporter category at Camp Perry, Ohio, on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.
“The four Waimea High School seniors qualified for the national championships as one of the Top 16 teams in the nation at the Sectional Qualifier on Oahu on Dec. 8,” Freeman said. “At the Junior National Championship, Waimea finished as the 5th Place Sporter team in the nation with Rochelle Uri finishing as the 9th place individual shooter. This marked the first appearance for the Menehune marksmen at the Junior Air Rifle National Championship.”
Waimea High School Athletic Director Dino Pabre said, “Awesome! Way to represent Waimea and Hawaii.”