Rifle Team Finishes Strong in 22-23 Campaign


The Smithfield HS JROTC Rifle Team finished very strong this year led by Senior Captain Caroline Lewton. The team beat their rival James River (JR) NJROTC in the final postal match of the year in the Virginia Rifle League (VARL). This was the first time SHS outshot JR.  With a total combined score of 1016 an average of 254 per marksman, the team ended the season on a high note. This year the Varsity finished 2nd in the VARL behind James River and the JV team placed first. The team placed 11th in the Northeast Region of the United States and 32nd in the nation among all Army JROTC rifle teams. The team retained its #1 AJROTC ranking in Virginia since it began in SY 2019-20 and has qualified for the regional competition every year. Caroline Lewton, and first year athletes Lauren Read and Nymiar Towns, all placed in the top 50 in the region and in the top 150 in the nation. “I am very proud of this team. They met their goals this year and those returning for next year are already planning out new goals to finish even better; I could not be prouder," said Coach LTC (Ret) Peter Badoian. The SHS AJROTC program would also like to thank the NRA for its generous grant donation for the 4th straight year totaling over $10K. These grants allowed the team to hit the ground running these last 4 years with state of the art shooting equipment. This year their grant allowed the team to purchase two electronic targets, bringing to 4 the total electronic targets.  The targets and operating system provide real time electronic scoring and feedback  to the marksmen as well as the coach. These additional targets will allow coaching and adjustments to be made in real time to multiple shooters, reducing movement considerably by each shooter.