Writer – Cadet Sergeant Anya Camejo
Photographer – Major Steven Celeste
The Rockledge Raider Team completed Fitness Nationals at Daytona Beach this past weekend culminating an amazing year! THE Rock Battalion Raider Team maintained an ambitious year round fitness level by staying competitively active. “In the past, when Raider Season ended in November, then we stopped training,” said Battalion Command Sergeant Major Jay Laughlin.
Not this year. Raider Season itself consisted of 4 Meets and traveling to the Raider National Competition at Fort Knox, Kentucky! The team completed a successful District season earning six trophies at the District Championship Meet. This was more trophies at one meet than in the previous four years combined.
In December, Rockledge Raiders competed in the Florida State Best Raider Competition. Then in February, they traveled to Orlando for the UCF Iron Knight 5km Challenge. That was followed by the Sprint & Shoot Marksmanship Challenge. And in April, 3 Raiders completed the Cocoa Beach Triathlon, including Team Captain, 2nd Lieutenant Lamarious Pratt. “The water was ice cold so it was good to start swimming,” said Pratt.
Many Raiders participated in the “mini-JCLC” camp. “Our county JCLC was canceled due to money, but we had help from Veteran groups to have our own overnight camp which was very challenging” said Battalion Executive Officer Anabelle Alabre. The Raider Team completed the 1 Mile La No Che Scramble Obstacle Course with an amazing time of 14:04!
Many of our Raiders are also part of the Drill Team. In May, the Rockledge Drill Team was given the opportunity to attend Drill Nationals. This was a very special event to those on Drill Team, as they spent months preparing for it. “Drill Nationals was one of the eye opening, stressful events that I attended. Relentlessly, I still had so much fun.” States Sergeant Anya Camejo. Everything went well especially with performance, as our team showed the best performance they had given all year.
The day after Drill Nationals, Fitness Nationals was held in the same location. Many of the Rockledge Cadets who attended Drill Nationals also competed at Fitness Nationals. Fitness Nationals consisted of 5 different events including a 2 mile Team Beach Run carrying a 100 pound pipe and a Beach Obstacle Course. When discussing some of the best qualities in future Raiders, Major Steven Celeste said “Two of the five events are cardio so we have to start there. And Raiders need to be committed to the team, not just interested.”
“What also contributed to our success was that we grew the battalion from 110 Cadets last year to 160 this year”. We are the smallest battalion in our area but competed with three teams this past Raider season.
The team completed Raider Spring Training two weeks ago and will begin summer workouts in July on the beach. “We reached out to our Middle Schoolers and look forward to our newest Freshmen joining us and breaking a sweat!” said Major Celeste
Overall, the Rockledge Raiders had an amazing year. They attended various events and gave it their all. The Raider Team is always outstanding and they always show effort and dedication to the program.