Rifle Team

CSM MIKE COLLIS Takes SMA Rifle Team to Lakeland for the State Veterans of Foreign Wars Match

          The Sarasota Military Academy Rifle Team ends the year with tow matches in the span of five days.  Saturday, April 19^th, the team traveled to Lakeland for the Veterans of Foreign Wars State finals.

The team competed in Phase I of this competition February 28^th.  Representing SMA was Andrew Douglas, Dylan Olree, William Wutzer and Raymond Hounigringer.  Their team score of 896 earned them a spot in the finals.

Due to the Lacrosse Championship game along with a few other conflicts, SMA sent Andrew Douglas, William Wutzer, and made replaced the other two members with Katie Griffin and Luke Moeckel.  Additionally, SFC (R) Pellegrino was replaced by CSM Mike Collis.  THANKS SERGEANT MAJOR!!!  

With the changes and going from inside to outside (match in Lakeland is held at an outdoor range), the team score slide a little, ending with a 846.  Katie Griffin had a score of 238, with the High individual score in the Kneeling position.  Andrew Douglas ended with a respectable 213, and one of his best scores in the Standing position.  William Wutzer had a 200 and Luke Moeckel had a 195.  The team earned 3^rd Place finish in the State VFW competition.

SMA Rifle Team Earns Third Place in the District Area 5 Match

Barely time to put equipment away, we loaded the SMA suburban on Thursday, April 24 headed to Palmetto High School for the District Area 5 shoulder-to-shoulder. 

During the past couple weeks, we’ve had many obstacles to overcome.  Displacement from our range as Danny and Sandy from Grease made their way in to our cafeteria for some awesome shows was one, along with the many distractions of other activities or events in which we all find ourselves challenged. 

Jimmie Cooper making his way back to school from National matches at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado is still working on making up lost ground in the classroom.  Arielle Mouhot is practicing at home, Katie Griffin is working hard in Grease.

We did find two SMA Lacrosse players, fresh off their State Championship in the West Florida Lacrosse League Division B to compete in the match in Plametto to help us “man up”. 

When all was said and done and the last pellet put into the bulls-eye, Palmetto HS was 1^st with a 958, Lakewood Ranch scoring a 923 took 2^nd and SMA brought home the 3^rd Place trophy with a team score of 851. 

Dylan Olree had the match individual High score of 87 in the Kneeling position.  Dylan ended with a team high of 251, followed by Ariel Lipman (228), Andrew Douglas (220), and Luke Moeckel with a (152).      

Thanks to LTC Massmann of Palmetto HS for the invitation and providing a professional competition.

          Also, thanks to Mr and Mrs Olree for their help and support by attending the match.

          Thanks to all the parents for their hard work and time for the team.  Specifically, we as a team want to recognize and acknowledge the work of the following parents throughout the year:  the Mouhots, Coopers, and Olrees.

We wanted to thank all parents, especially those that were chaperones for this trip; Mr + Mrs Cooper and Mrs Mouhot.  Thanks to the SMA Staff and faculty for allowing these cadets to attend.  Thanks to COL Cork providing all funding requirements associated with transportation to Ft Benning! 

To the members of the team that were not invited to attend, your time will come, you

MUST WANT it,  “treat  every shot as it’s own match” and JUST SHOOT…

Our SMA RIFLE TEAM TAKES 1^ST PLACE in 6^TH Brigade for FOURTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR and TARGETS FORT BENNING, GEORGIA AND THE EASTERN REGION CHAMPIONSHIPS

Army JROTC Rife teams and individuals from the east coast and European Department of Defense Dependant schools system will converge at Fort Benning, Georgia.  These young competitors will show off their skills and discipline and compete for the Eastern Region Championships February 14-16, 2008. 

Since August, rifle teams have practiced and competed to qualify for this prestigious event.  Our shooters have dedicated themselves to reach the next level.  Over 2200 cadets competed and some 300 teams.

            The Screaming Eagles were once again, well represented in the postal qualification match on November 17^th.  We had a huge turnout of participants, including team members and a few others that completed the mandatory safety and training classes.  For the 4^th consecutive year, SMA took 1^st Place honors in the brigade and an invite to the Eastern Region Championships at the U.S. Army’s Marksmanship Unit Pool Complex at Ft Benning, GA.  Teams in the brigade are kicking it up, trying to knock SMA’s disciplined and committed team off the top of the mountain.  Hillsborough County’s Newsome High School and Sarasota County’s other top shooting team of Riverview High School right on our “butt stocks.” 

Our team’s tremendous effort earned us a score of 1028.  Close behind was NHS, coached by COL (Ret) Lonnie Vona with a 1000, and RHS, coached by former SMA Rifle Coach SGM (Ret) Roger Mitchell with a 962. 

Along with the top spot in 6^th Brigade, we finished 4^th out of 94 teams in the East and 17^th of 234 teams in the nation.  This was truly a remarkable competition to this point, but the work is not yet over. 

Individually, in the sporter class, Jared Albright (Jr), team co-captain Arielle Mouhot (Sophmore) were our top shooters, both with scores of 259, followed by team captain Cristian Urrea (Sr) and Katie Griffin (Jr) scoring 256 and 254 respectively.  In the East, they ranked numbers 24, 27, 33 and 42 out of almost 800 shooters.  Arielle, a true team player, came back to the sporter class from the precision side of the house to help the team.

Our other Precision competitor, sophmore Jimmie Cooper, performed extremely well with a 291, which placed him 1^st in the brigade and in the East, and 2^nd Nationally among 384 competitors.  His result also earned Jimmie an invite to Ft Benning.

The following SMA Rifle team members also competed:  Dylan Olree (242), senior Kevin Hobson (240), Nathan Slone (237), Ariel Lipman (229), Skyler Schriver (229), William Wutzer (212), Raymond Hounigringer (199), Luke Moeckel (196), Cade Kenny (193), Andrew Douglas (190), Jordan Young (189), Jonathan Betancourt (185), and Derek Caprio (169).

For more details, go to the web at http://odcmp.com, and then click “Results” under the “U.S. ARMY JROTC” emblem.  SMA falls under 6^th Brigade and the Eastern Region. 

            We want to thank all the parents for their continued support of the rifle team.  This year’s team is very special due to the interest of our parents and we thank you.  We could not be in the position we are without what each of you do.  Special thanks to Mr. + Mrs. Cooper for their time and efforts every Wednesday working the Pizza fundraiser.  Also, we’d like to thank Mrs. Mouhot for her continued time and work taking care of our books and financial records. 

As always, this would a very difficult voyage without the continued support from our Senior Army Instructor (SAI)  Major (Ret) Danny Smith and our headmaster Mr Kennedy. Without these efforts and support, the success of our team would be hampered nor would we be able to participate in this event. 

            Upon return from the competition, check out the SMA website for results and photos.

click here for more Riverview match pictures

SMA Rifle Team Performs Color Guard at the Sarasota Sportsmens Association Dinner

October 4, 2007, the Sarasota Military Academy Rifle Team presented the Colors at the Sarasota Sportsmens Association Dinner held at the Robarts Arena in Sarasota.

The association in collaboration with the Bullet Hole, located on main street in Sarasota, the association made a significant contribution to the success of the SMA Rifle team at the beginning of the year.

Pictured on the left are from left to right;

Nathan Slone, Cristian Urrea (Tm Captain),

Arielle Mouhot (Tm Co-Captain), and Jared Albright/