Burrell, Wells Earn Overall Titles at 2025 JROTC National Championship

By Ashley Dugan, CMP Staff Writer

CAMP PERRY, Ohio – It’s fitting that the 2025 JROTC Three-Position National Championship was held at the twilight of Women’s History Month, with six of the eight individuals in the sporter final being female athletes as well as seven of the eight in the precision final. In the end, two of those talented ladies rose to victory in their respective classes after an exciting neck-and-neck contest on the firing line.

The JROTC National sporter and precision air rifle event for high school athletes was held March 20-22 at the Gary Anderson CMP Competition Center in Ohio. Along with Nationals, the JROTC Championships included a Postals Match and Regional Service Championships – all facilitated by the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP). The 2025 JROTC Nationals was also sponsored by Army JROTC and U.S. Coast Guard installments.

Earning the overall win in the sporter class after outlasting her fellow competitors in the elimination final was Army cadet Kaitlynn Burrell, 17, of Walhalla High School in South Carolina. She found her win by remaining mentally grounded and avoiding some of the mishaps she’s faced in the past.

“In my journal, I wrote that I wanted to stay competitive and to actually slow down and take my time in my shots,” she explained. “Sometimes my shot process is non-existent because I get impatient – I really wanted to slow down and enjoy this.”

She stuck with that mindset during the two rounds of qualification, just making the final by grasping eighth overall out of over 130 athletes. Once finals began, the weight of the moment began to creep in.

“Hearing everyone behind you, you start to get heart palpitations and start to get scared, and you can get in your own mind and freak out a little bit,” she admitted. “I really wanted to stay calm.”

With skill, she tamed her anxieties by remembering to enjoy the moment, even making lighthearted faces at the crowd behind her. Near the conclusion of firing, the song “Under Pressure” came on over the range speakers – her team’s adopted song. She looked back and saw her colonel dancing and, in seeing his cool composure, began dancing along with him. She focused and took her final shot, a 9, and beamed a smile back at her teammates who were bursting with cheers as she solidified her victory.

“They’re the joy of my life – I think that’s true,” she said of her teammates. “They’re always there for me.”

Finding second behind Burrell was Valeria Alvarado, 18, of North Brunswick High School in North Carolina (Army), as Erin Hiller, 17, of Lebanon High School in Oregon (Army), claimed third.

The top sporter team and the top sporter individual each received a Crosman Challenger air rifle, donated by Crosman.

In precision, Marine Corps athlete Kennedy Wells, 17, of Granbury High School in Texas came out on top of a tough competition – finding the overall title by just one-tenth of a point. A senior heading to the University of Texas at El Paso rifle team in the fall, Wells had one specific goal for her final JROTC Nationals.

“Last year, I wasn’t in the finals, but my sister, who graduated, was. My goal for this match was to beat her,” she said with a laugh. “I get nervous very easily, so I spent a lot of time journaling and envisioning winning first place.”

Wells was a member of last year’s precision National Championship team and credits her fellow teammates for standing as her support on the firing line. At the 2025 JROTC Service Championships leading up to Nationals, she had mechanical issues with her air rifle that made her uneasy. Seeing her distress, her team rallied around her and, ultimately, helped her regroup to reach the overall individual win for the Marine Corps competition.

“I’m going to miss my team a lot,” she said. “They boost my morale and always make me happy when I’m upset.”

The sentiment also extends to those behind the firing line.

“I want to say thank you to my coaches, Lt. Col. Casey and 1^st Sgt. Rositas, and Mr. Becker, who all helped me along the way.”

During the finals at Nationals, Wells narrowly outpaced Kelsey Dardas, 14, of Fountain Fort Carson High School in Colorado (Army), who led most of the final but ultimately landed in second despite a strong finish. Grace Bledsoe, 17, of Claudia Taylor Johnson in Texas (Army), also gave a noteworthy performance, earning third.

In team competition, Wells’s Granbury High School returned to the first place spot for the eighth consecutive year, though not without a fight – clearing the Navy’s Floyd Central High School from Indiana by only two points. It was the closest margin for the team since 2022 when they earned the win by just four points and only the second time the team has endured a single-digit margin of victory.

Granbury team members were Wells, Viola Allen, Mataya Turner and Renee Sermarini.

Likewise, Marine Corps team Jack C. Hays High School in Texas had a tight competition of their own after earning the top spot by x-count over North Brunswick. Members of the winning team were Sophia Padilla, Gabriel Guerrero, Shiloh Hargrove and Viviana Martinez.

After competition was over, the 220 participants, their coaches and guests attended the awards ceremony at Kalahari Resorts & Conventions in nearby Sandusky. Those in attendance welcomed guest speaker Brig. Gen. Matthew S. Woodruff, assistant adjutant general for the Ohio Army National Guard. Woodruff inspired everyone in the room to always lead by positive example and to show respect for others by appreciating each person’s own unique stories.

Outside of awards, the celebratory banquet included dinner, photo booths, lightshows and music as well as (for the first time) a prom-style dance – complete with a DJ and illuminated color-changing floor, all provided by Rock and Rolle Express Entertainment Company.

“The dance is something we’ve been wanting to implement the last few years but have been unable to,” said CMP’s Brad Donoho, who manages the JROTC event. “This year, it all came together, and we were happy to be able to provide a little extra fun for the cadets.”

Find a complete list of results of the event at https://ct.thecmp.org/2025JROTCNatResults.

Photos of the event are available for free viewing and download from the CMP Zenfolio page at https://cmp1.zenfolio.com/f642308293. A live stream video from the JROTC National Awards Banquet may also be viewed on the CMP’s YouTube channel.

The Civilian Marksmanship Program is a federally chartered 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation. It is dedicated to firearm safety and marksmanship training and to the promotion of marksmanship competition for citizens of the United States. For more information about the CMP and its programs, log onto www.TheCMP.org.