By NewsLine Staff
mail@floridanewsline.com
Nease lost its last sanctioned drill meet in Area-12 more than 2,900 days ago. Since that defeat during the 2014 Area-12 Drill Championships, Nease has reeled off 29 consecutive drill championships — the last being the 2022 Area-12 Academic, Athletic and Drill Championship at Coffee County, Georgia on March 5. With eight straight state championships beginning in 2015, Nease established itself as arguably northeast Florida’s most dominating high school championship program.
Competing against the very best 15 Navy high school JROTC drill teams in Area-12, an area which includes all of northeastern Florida and the entire state of Georgia, Nease swept first place in all five Drill events, all three Athletic events, Personnel Inspection and narrowly placed second only in Academics — thereby preventing a clean sweep across the board.
Nease competed in five previous drill competitions this year, winning at Sprayberry (Georgia), Lee County (Georgia), Martin Luther King (Georgia), Mandarin (Florida) and Flanagan (Miami, Florida).
“This team has improved exponentially since our first competition last October,” said senior naval science instructor Captain Scott LaRochelle. “We’re peaking at just the right time with the national championships in early April.”
Nease’s individual drill commanders chose the right time to deliver their very best performances. Isabella Rivera (Color Guard and Unarmed Exhibition), Kaitlyn Boggs (Unarmed Basic), Daniel Mahoney (Armed Exhibition) and Brodie Mongon (Armed Basic) led their units to near perfect scores during the competition.
“One of the competition judges was previously assigned as a member of the Marine Corps Ceremonial Honor Guard in Washington, DC,” said Master Chief Duane Spears. “He commented that our cadets’ discipline and focus in drill was the best he had ever seen.”
“Being on this team has taught me so much about leadership and teamwork,” said Rivera. “As a freshman, I was just happy to be a part of the team. Now as a senior, I have the opportunity to command under pressure… and it’s awesome.” Her hard work paid dividends as she has already received appointments to both the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Merchant Marine Academy, and a national NROTC scholarship to Virginia Tech.
Several cadets also garnered top honors for individual performance, including Ben Prohofsky – first in Academics, Anthony Tucker – first in Male Sit Ups, and Daniella Camacho – first in Female Sit Ups.
Photo courtesy Scott LaRochelle
Senior cadets Brodie Mongon, Anthony Tuckers, Daniel Mahoney, Kaitlyn Boggs, Isabella Rivera and Emmelie Neff receive the Area-12 Academic, Athletic and Drill Championship trophy on March 5 in Douglas, Georgia.
