On Saturday, February 28, the NJ-761 Drill Team participated in their second drill competition of the academic year at Passaic High School in Passaic, New Jersey. Twenty Nine cadets total attended the competition in addition to the SASI. All the cadets woke up nice and early and the bus departed school at 0600, right on schedule!
After a quiet and peaceful morning drive, the team arrived at the site of the competition. Some first-timers became nervous, while others were excited to take the floor again for the opportunity to win trophies. Piscataway was competing with teams from across the tri-state area in all events with the exceptions of Armed and Unarmed Flight Exhibition.
In addition to the drill Specific events, NJ-761 also participated in an academic test for the competition. Cadets that took the test were C/Maj Marc Labilles, C/CMSgt Abhishek Arya, and C/A1C Bryant Payne. The test was composed of several riddles designed to mentally tax the cadets, however they all performed well and powered through the test.
As for the drill related events, they began at 0800 with the Unarmed Inspection team commanded by C/SrA Michael Sarmiento. The team spent what seemed like an eternity waiting to get on the drill deck and as a result, some other events became pushed back, which became a recurring theme for the entire competition.
Immediately after inspection had ended, the New Cadet Unarmed Regulation team commanded by C/A1C Ihaab Majid (as seen above) went on simultaneously with the Varsity Color Guard commanded by C/MSgt Cory Krohne. Next came the New Cadet Color Guard commanded by C/Amn Azam Pulatov. Following this would be Armed Dual Exhibition featuring C/MSgt Ankush De and C/SrA Tanya Chahal. Last to go would be the Unarmed and Armed Regulation Teams commanded by C/SrA Bivi Baby, and C/SrA Tanya Chahal respectively.
After NJ-761had completed all events they were participating in, the team went to lunch which consisted of pizza, hot dogs or empanadas. After lunch, the team went to put all the equipment back on the bus and decided to go watch the other school’s exhibition events, some of which left the cadets in awe. As all the events slowly came to a close, Knockout began. Though no member of NJ-761 won the long sought after knockout trophy, a great highlight came when C/CMSgt Abhishek Arya participated in knockout while on crutches and outlasted many cadets from other schools! Following knockout, the athletic teams competed in what would be a comical and good spirited competition. Piscataway was represented by six cadets led by C/MSgt Kevin Procell. While they didn’t win the athletic portion of the competition, they performed admirably in their tasks.
Then came trophy time! The team was filled with anticipation as trophy announcements came, and were equally excited when they came to NJ-761. The trophy count for the Passaic competition was two, 2nd Place for New Cadet Unarmed Regulation, and 2nd Place for New Cadet Color Guard. After a long and tiring competition, the team took a song and Jodie filled bus ride home. For some that was the end of the competition, while others decided to rendezvous at IHOP for a post competition dinner.
All the cadets did an outstanding job, in both performing on the decks and representing both PHS and NJ-761. Now it’s time to prepare for the final stretch!
After a quiet and peaceful morning drive, the team arrived at the site of the competition. Some first-timers became nervous, while others were excited to take the floor again for the opportunity to win trophies. Piscataway was competing with teams from across the tri-state area in all events with the exceptions of Armed and Unarmed Flight Exhibition.
In addition to the drill Specific events, NJ-761 also participated in an academic test for the competition. Cadets that took the test were C/Maj Marc Labilles, C/CMSgt Abhishek Arya, and C/A1C Bryant Payne. The test was composed of several riddles designed to mentally tax the cadets, however they all performed well and powered through the test.
As for the drill related events, they began at 0800 with the Unarmed Inspection team commanded by C/SrA Michael Sarmiento. The team spent what seemed like an eternity waiting to get on the drill deck and as a result, some other events became pushed back, which became a recurring theme for the entire competition.
Immediately after inspection had ended, the New Cadet Unarmed Regulation team commanded by C/A1C Ihaab Majid (as seen above) went on simultaneously with the Varsity Color Guard commanded by C/MSgt Cory Krohne. Next came the New Cadet Color Guard commanded by C/Amn Azam Pulatov. Following this would be Armed Dual Exhibition featuring C/MSgt Ankush De and C/SrA Tanya Chahal. Last to go would be the Unarmed and Armed Regulation Teams commanded by C/SrA Bivi Baby, and C/SrA Tanya Chahal respectively.
After NJ-761had completed all events they were participating in, the team went to lunch which consisted of pizza, hot dogs or empanadas. After lunch, the team went to put all the equipment back on the bus and decided to go watch the other school’s exhibition events, some of which left the cadets in awe. As all the events slowly came to a close, Knockout began. Though no member of NJ-761 won the long sought after knockout trophy, a great highlight came when C/CMSgt Abhishek Arya participated in knockout while on crutches and outlasted many cadets from other schools! Following knockout, the athletic teams competed in what would be a comical and good spirited competition. Piscataway was represented by six cadets led by C/MSgt Kevin Procell. While they didn’t win the athletic portion of the competition, they performed admirably in their tasks.
Then came trophy time! The team was filled with anticipation as trophy announcements came, and were equally excited when they came to NJ-761. The trophy count for the Passaic competition was two, 2nd Place for New Cadet Unarmed Regulation, and 2nd Place for New Cadet Color Guard. After a long and tiring competition, the team took a song and Jodie filled bus ride home. For some that was the end of the competition, while others decided to rendezvous at IHOP for a post competition dinner.
All the cadets did an outstanding job, in both performing on the decks and representing both PHS and NJ-761. Now it’s time to prepare for the final stretch!