The Bremerton High School Orienteering Team beat the six-time returning JROTC champion team from Georgia and are the new JROTC National Orienteering Champions!
Orienteering is the sport of navigation, using a highly detailed map. Prior to going to the national contest, the team competed in eight orienteering competitions this season (which runs from November - February) and the local championship with students making huge strides in their skills at each event. All students begin as Rookies, and then move up to Junior Varsity or Varsity once they become eligible based on skill and the number of times they have competed.
“The competition was very challenging, said Brian Newvine, BHS Naval Science Instructor and Orienteering Team coach. "Our team is used to competing in the Western Washington forested parks or college campuses. The Eastern Washington deserts were wholly new and provided the opportunity to prove how much they’ve learned. Everyone pushed through and we are extremely proud of them!”
The 3-day Junior National Orienteering Competition was held in the Gorge area this year, providing an opportunity to take a big team to the competition and have lots of supporters there cheering them on!
The BHS Orienteering Team includes students from BHS and MVMS - and most are members of BHS’s NJROTC.
A number of team members also earned individual awards at the National Orienteering Championship including:
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Nathan Hinds (3rd place for schools and 1st for JROTC Male)
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Bradley Pickering (3rd for JROTC Male)
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Allison Smith (3rd for JROTC Female)
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David Eckstrom (1st place Rookie)
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Jerimyah Beam (3rd place Rookie)
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Rebecca Smith (1st place Novice/first time competitor)
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Bailey Miller from MVMS (2nd place Novice/first time competitor)
Photo: David Eckstrom, Avery Herold, Jerimyah Beam, Allison Smith, Nathan Hinds, Victor Gehring, Andre Robinson, Rebecca Smith and Sean Rascon. Not pictured are Bradley Pickering, Hailee Henehan and Bailey Miller (MVMS 8th grade).
