The Oak Harbor High School NJROTC drill and rifle teams finished second to Shelton at the regional championships Saturday, March 16, at Oregon City, Oregon.

Wildcat Battalion has now placed in the top three in the past 11 years, including winning the title in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018.

The conference includes 32 schools divided into four divisions. The top three from each division qualified for the regional event; Oak Harbor was the Olympic Division champion.

In the team competitions at Oregon City, the Wildcats finished first in unarmed drill and sporter air rifle, second in precision air rifle and armed drill, third in academic, fourth in dual unarmed exhibition drill (Skye Kawi/Leanne Canonizado), seventh in dual armed exhibition drill (Victor Zarate/James Fisher), eighth in dual unarmed exhibition drill (Noelle Pangilinan/Zach Evangelista) and 10th in physical fitness and color guard No. 2.

Oak Harbor also collected two firsts in individual events: Mark Bains, unarmed drill commander, and Daimen Christensen, armed drill team commander.

Others placing in the top 10 were Lauren Crossley (second, precision rifle), Joshua Blake (third, academic), Megan Kunze (fourth, sporter rifle), Anna Jones (seventh, precision rifle), Ivan Snyder (seventh, sporter rifle), Alexis Kunze (eighth, precision rifle), Trevor Westman (eighth, sporter rifle), Ethan Macaluso (10th, individual armed exhibition drill) and Kevin Schuldt (10th, academic).

Chief Bill Thiel said he and Cmdr. Vince Quidachay “are very proud of how our cadets competed.”

“Not only are they great competitors,” Thiel added, “their sportsmanship during the awards ceremony was very supportive of all units.”