Christopher Fisher, Staff Reporter
On Friday, December 3rd, JROTC students participated in the NEISD Urban Raider Competition. This competition was full of outdoor challenges including a 5k cross country course, a cross country rescue, obstacle courses, and a physical test.
Cadets trained hard, in order to prepare for the Raider Competition. They did physical training, running plenty of miles, and calisthenics. “Training did help with developing our weaknesses into our strengths. Not only just individually, but as a team.” Velma Juarez (12) said.
It was a busy day with competitions going on at all times. Not only that, the students had to arrive around 7 a.m. to catch the bus and make their way to the competition.
The weather wasn’t very kind that day. In the beginning it rained for two hours and as the day went on the temperature increased. It made for an intensive workout and was more difficult to complete. Everyone fought hard regardless of the conditions and performed to the best of their abilities.
Both boys and girls were split into teams of 8. Those teams competed in team-based exercises and had to obtain the fastest time possible.
In the 5 km cross country run, the runners had to stick as a team and make it to the finish line together. If any teammate is left behind, your time cannot be recorded and could possibly result in a penalty.
The cross country rescue simulated saving the injured and carrying equipment. In this exercise, two people had to carry an “injured person” through a variety of obstacles such as going through a tunnel, jumping off a platform, as well as crawling in sand. The people who were not carrying a body had to carry rucksacks.
The obstacle courses had numerous activities. There was rope climb, wall climbing, balancing, and other obstacles you had to run, vault, and go over.
The physical test included carrying heavy objects, crawling, and carrying a small boat as a team.
It was a good start for LEE, however, there were members of the girls team who got minor injuries and could not continue on. As a result, the girls team was disqualified for the remainder of the day.
The girls were disappointed, however, they took that as an opportunity to learn from what they did wrong and will improve on it from there. “The experience was kind of enlightening. It reminded me how much I rely on my teammates. We all have our place in this team and we’re all in it together,” says Zoey Castaneda (9).
Although the girls team had to end it early, the boys kept on. They did outstanding in these courses to represent our school. Rewarding their performance, they brought home a large trophy and 2 plaques.