WaHi JROTC Rifle Team Concludes 24-25 Season at CMP Nationals
225 of the top high school rifle marksmen met in Camp Perry, Ohio, in July 2025 for the CMP National Rifle Championship. WAHI’s JROTC Precision Rifle Team competed against 43 other precision teams during the 2-day match.
The team, comprised of Cadet Colonel Hannah Goin, Cadet Major Sarah Nelson, Cadet Major Evan Graham, Cadet Major Claire Calvert, and Cadet Command Sergeant Major Noah Kaheaku, posted their highest score to close out the 2024-25 season. For Goin, Nelson, and Graham, this marked their final high school rifle match as graduated seniors.
Preliminary qualifications for this match began last November, when the team traveled to Spokane for the Washington State CMP Cup Match, and in February for the CMP State Championships. From there, they advanced to the CMP Western Regional Championship in Salt Lake City, Utah. WAHI’s scores in those matches advanced the team to the National Championship in Ohio. There, they joined over 200 of the top-ranked shooters in the United States, vying for trophies and honors.
Shooters competed in a course of fire that included 20 shots each from the kneeling, prone, and standing positions. Each shot is worth a possible 10 points for a total match score of 600 points per shooter. As the WaHi team finished their relay, they had racked up a total of 2,301 points out of 2,400, putting them in 7th place among the high school teams in attendance and achieving the highest score of any Army JROTC Team at the match.
The team was led on day 1 by Nelson, who posted a 583, followed by Goin and Calvert, who tied with a 574, and Graham with a 569.
On the second day of the match, the Blue Devil Cadet posted their highest score of the year, led again by Nelson, who finished her high school career with a 588, notching a personal record and putting her in 37th place overall nationally. Calvert was close behind, finishing on a 583. Graham posted a 575 and Goin a 573 to end the year on a team total of 2319. Their improved performance on day two caught a statistical tie for 6th place with Harpeth Hall High School from Pennsylvania, with both teams posting a 4620. Harpeth Hall still held onto their 6th place position, however, breaking the tie with a higher center x ten count.
“Wednesday’s score is the highest we have seen from a Blue Devil Rifle Team since 2017,” Said Rifle Coach Mark Mebes after the match. “These cadets have put in a tremendous amount of work and had a phenomenal season this year.”
This match marked the end of the regular season for WaHi’s JROTC Rifle Team and the last match with Graham as the team captain.
“It was hard to put down that rifle after I fired the last shot,” Said Graham, who has enlisted in the Army and is scheduled to report in September. “This sport has defined high school for me since I started at WAHI. It’s become such a big part of who I am.”
Goin, who has gone on to shoot for the NCAA Division I Rifle Team at Morehead State in Kentucky this fall, had a similar reaction.
“It was very emotional for me,” She said on Wednesday. “Even though I will keep shooting competitively, it is hard to see this chapter of my life close.”
The team returned to Walla Walla to reconfigure and begin summer training for this season under the captaincy of Cadet Captain Evelyn Wolf. The Blue Devil Battalion opened its 2025-26 season by hosting the Junior Air Nationals state qualifier at Walla Walla High School on Saturday, November 1st.
