SANDY HOOK – Forty-four cadets from MAST, the Marine Academy of Science and Technology’s Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps program recently competed in the NJROTC Navy Nationals Academic, Athletic, and Drill championship in Pensacola, Florida, placing 12th out of the top 24 teams of the 600+ NJROTC units across the nation.
The annual championship is composed of an academic test, five drill events, and three physical fitness challenges. In order to qualify to compete at Nationals, two teams from each of the 11 NJROTC geographical areas had to place first or second in an area-wide qualifying meet (the two extra slots are rotated among the areas each year). MAST placed first in drill and academics at the Area Four championship meet at Colts Neck High School in January. Colts Neck NJROTC placed first in athletics in that same meet held at their school, thereby qualifying to be the other team to represent NJROTC Area Four at Nationals.
The meet was held over two days onboard Naval Air Station Pensacola, known as the “Cradle of Naval Aviation”. This is the base at which all pilots in the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard receive initial flight training, and is home of the Blue Angels, the Navy’s elite precision-flying team.
The units competed in a total of nine events, and MAST placed 4th in Armed Regulation drill, 4th in Color Guard, and 5th in Academics. Senior Bryce Gestrich of Holmdel placed 6th out of the 360 cadets that took the 100-question academic exam.
Colts Neck cadets won the overall athletics award, placing first in pushups and situps, and second in Armed Exhibition.
“Our number one priority here at MAST is academics, and though we always hope to do well in the drill and athletics events, we know that what will really make our cadets successful in the future are their academic achievements,” said Commander Tracie Smith-Yeoman, US Navy (retired), the Senior Naval Science Instructor at MAST. “Though our cadets worked very hard and put a lot of extra time into practicing drill and athletics, we always put a greater emphasis on their academic performance in school and getting accepted into great colleges. However, the class of 2023 drill team members made it a goal to do well enough in drill, academics, and athletics to make back to Nationals.,” Smith-Yeoman continued.
“Not only did they achieve that, but this year we had the best showing we’ve ever had in Pensacola,” she said, referencing MAST’s participation in Nationals in 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2016. “The cadets’ ability to effectively manage their time so they place the appropriate amount of focus on all of the priorities vying for their attention – academics, drill, outside employment, varsity sports at their sending schools, and community service – never ceases to amaze me!”
Citing evidence of MAST’s priority on academics, Smith-Yeoman cited some other statistics cadets of the team have received this year. Pointing to success in college acceptances, the Senior Instructor said, Drill Team Commander Tyler Smolensky of Middletown and team member Alexis Walker of Fair Haven each received both NROTC scholarships and appointments to the US Naval Academy. (They both committed to the Academy.) Armed Exhibition team commander Maya Burns of Keyport, Armed Regulation team commander James Treshock of Monmouth Beach, and Unarmed Regulation team commander Tessa Campolattaro of Rumson, were all selected for NROTC scholarships. Cadet Campolattaro, MAST’s battalion commander and senior-ranking cadet, received acceptances to Harvard, Yale, Northeastern, Notre Dame, and Georgetown, and has committed to Harvard. Unarmed Exhibition team commander Hannah Echols of Middletown was accepted to Rutgers, and other seniors on the team were accepted to Cornell, Fordham, Villanova, Stevens Institute of Technology, Penn State, the University of Texas, and the University of South Carolina, to name just a few of the outstanding schools. In total, the 12 seniors on the drill team received 73 college acceptances.
NJROTC is a citizenship development program that stresses leadership, service to the community, personal responsibility, and a sense of accomplishment. As the first of Monmouth County Vocational School District’s five career academies, MAST was founded upon the NJROTC program in 1981, and its NJROTC program has been recognized as a Distinguished Unit each year since 1984. In 2022, MAST was named 11th in New Jersey and 165th in the nation of Best High Schools, according to U.S. News and World Report. For more information about MAST, go to https://mast.ctemc.org/, and for more information on NJROTC, go to https://www.netc.navy.mil/NSTC/NJROTC/.
