BURGAW, NC - The Pender High school JROTC Male Raider Team is headed to the National Championship in Molena, Georgia. The Championship will take place the weekend of November 5, 2022.
The Raider Teams won overall First Place and Third Place in its first Best of the Best Qualifier in Pilot Mountain, NC. The mixed team, led by Senior Ethan Psioda, won overall first place out of 16 teams and qualified for the Regional Competition in March 2023.
The team consisted of Senior, Gentry Vincent; Junior, Madison Giddeons, Oscar Galvin-Martinez, Olivia Gurganus, Jamiah Johnson; Sophomore, Mallory Psioda, Pedro Cruz and Freshman, Pasco Horton
The team won the 2022 Best of the Best Raider Competition in April 2022 for the first time since 2015 when it won back-to-back titles. This was a regional competition that spanned 400 JROTC programs; 6 states; 14 teams; and one champion.
Pender High School is the only high school in the region that has won this championship three times.
The team won 1st place in Litter Carry; 2nd place in the team physical fitness challenge, the One Rope Bridge, and the 5k team Road March; and 3rd place in the Logistics Relay. The male team was led by senior cadet Sam Wheeler. Also on the team was senior Cristian Cruz-Martinez, juniors; Austin Anderson, Kamden Paluck, and Tyler Guzman; sophomore; James Wood and freshman; Aidan Murray, Carter Brown, and Luis Santos-Garcia.