The Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps competed in their first competition of the year Oct. 15 in Lewisville. They came back with four new trophies and closer relationships with each other.

The JROTC cadets won first place in Inspection, first place in Physical Fitness, second place in Female Color Guard and first place Overall.

“Winning first place is always awesome,” fourth-year cadet Austin Byboth said. “I’m beyond proud of all of our Honor Guard’s effort this year.”

Color Guard is made up of four cadets, a detail, trying to perfect everything. The judges will know if there is a mistake and can get super close to them to pay attention to the detail.

“It’s like having a team very carefully watched as you perform each command,” second-year cadet Austin Miller said. “Everything you do with your team matters. You want to make sure you look in sync, that way you get the most points you can.”

This year, JROTC was introduced to a new Colonel who had never been to or even seen a JROTC competition.

“I was very impressed with the caliber of performance by all the teams participating in the event,” Colonel Brooks McFarland said.

Competitions are always a good way to for the cadets to build relationships and grow as a unit.

“It’s always nice to build camaraderie with the teammates at the competitions we go to,” Byboth said.

JROTC will participate in their next competition Saturday Nov. 5 in Abilene.