May 2, 2024 - Four Comal ISD Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) programs qualified for national competitions this spring including Canyon Lake, Davenport, Pieper and Smithson Valley high schools.
The district’s five JROTC programs were recognized by the Comal ISD Board of Trustees during its regular meeting on April 25 for their honors.
National qualifying teams include the armed drill team from CLHS Army JROTC, the Leadership and Academic Bowl (JLAB) team from DHS Army JROTC, the academic, athletic and drill teams from PHS Navy JROTC and SVHS Navy JROTC along with a SVHS cadet who advanced to the advanced to the Navy National Air Rifle championship.
Also recognized were two student cadets from the Canyon High School Air Force JROTC who were selected to attend the 2024 Air Force Aviation Flight Academy. Only 332 of 90,000 cadets are selected for this opportunity that offers a pathway to a career in aviation.
The cadets are Kaden Vincent who will attend the Flight Academy at Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Nicolas Davila who will attend the Flight Academy at Embry Riddle University in Prescott, Arizona. The CHS JROTC leaders are Lt. Col. Timothy Biltz and Master Sgt. Oscar Rios.
The armed drill team from CLHS Army JROTC qualified for national competition in only its second year to compete. They will compete May 3 in Daytona Beach, Florida. The JROTC leaders at CLHS are Major Lawrence Garcia and 1st Sgt. Michael Medina.
CLHS team members
- Elijah Alford
- Joshua Bryan
- Caleb Dunn
- Marshall Gomez
- Ruben Hernandez
- Vincent Hollenbeck
- Donald Kitzel
- Eden MacPherson
- Nicholas Meinzer
- Michael Noin
- Eduardo Reyes
- Tiergan Smith, Team Captain
- Nathan Sweet
The DHS Army JROTC JLAB team will compete in National Academic Bowl Championship in Washington, DC, on the campus of The Catholic University of America, June 21-25.
After advancing through two intense phases of online competition, the team composed of Bradley Quick, Stone Pena, Raithe Fox and Kaden Dohmen earned top scores out of the 1,942 teams that competed. It is one of only 32 in the nation to advance to the final competition. The JROTC leaders at DHS are Lt. Col. Patrick Almond and 1st Sgt. Kenneth Carbon.
In only its third year in existence, the PHS Navy JROTC represented Texas at the Navy NJROTC Nationals in Pensacola, Florida in early April. They earned the spot after competing against the top 16 teams in the state of Texas and receiving 2nd place in the state finals. They competed against the top 24 JROTC programs in the country. The JROTC leaders at PHS are Major Dave Bower USMC (ret) and Craig Steele.
PHS team members
- Alina Anderson
- Gavin Bustamante
- Isaiah Chesney
- Abigail Collier
- Nyessa Dumas-Perry
- Rashard Dunbar
- Maecy Eller
- Vicente Gusman
- Bri Hamling
- Roman Hendricks
- Olivia Hyman, an 8th-grade student at Pieper Ranch Middle School
- Avery Kulhawy
- Caleb Mchale
- Jared Mclaughlin
- Cindy Nguyen
- Nathan Nguyen
- Chibuike Onyenagada
- Destiny Pena
- Cheyanne Pepper
- Andrew Phillips
- Megan Phillips
- Sawyer Pierce, an 8th-grade student at Pieper Ranch Middle School
- Mia Popoff
- DonnaMarie Reed, an 8th-grade student at Pieper Ranch Middle School
- Logan Rios
- Christophor Stratton
- James Swain
- Brandon Todd
- Reagan Turman
- Daniel Vidaurri
- Xavier Viera
- Kyle Wheeler
Rounding out the national honors is the SVHS Navy JROTC which advanced both a team and an individual. Joshua Velasquez advanced to the Navy National Air Rifle Championship, and a team advanced to the academic, athletic and drill team competition in Pensacola earlier this month. The JROTC leaders at SVHS are Chief Daniel Hansen and Commander Scott Outlaw.
SVHS team members
- Juno Allen
- Jacob Badillo
- Alexa Bowers
- Asaiah Breaux
- Evan Correa
- Igby Crane
- Briana Crosby
- Paige Day
- Ian Edens
- Micheal Fernandez
- Cody Fries
- Laila Garner
- Malayna Garza
- Nia Hoppstaedter
- Maddie Kruzick
- Mallory Lindback
- Michael McCarthy
- Michael Muzquiz
- Logan Norman
- David Pemberton
- Declan Renkema
- Zoe Rushing
- Orion Rutten
- Colby Shewbridge
- Oscar Silvesan
- Zane Silvesan
- Kathryn Tatom
- Aracely Tejada
- William Scott Thomas Jr.
- Gerrit Van Der Valk
- Kaitlyn Watters
- Sam Wirtjes
- Trevin Wolfe
- Mathice Yip-Palmer
Congratulations!
Photo information
-Canyon High School JROTC Flight Academy honorees.
-Canyon Lake High School JROTC armed drill team.
-Pieper High School JROTC national qualifying team.
-Smithson Valley High School JROTC national qualifying team.
-Smithson Valley High School JROTC cadet Joshua Velasquez.