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frankfortstation.com News
the frankfort station | February 16, 2017 | 5
JROTC
From Page 4
event. His 727 points were
21 more than second-place
Kenny Smith (706) from
East.
Senese closed his routine
by switching a rifle and saber
between hands while simultaneously
spinning the mixed
weapons around his body
near chest level.
“The real trick is the
weight difference,” Senese
said. “One of the main
benefits I have is I’m ambidextrous,
so I have separate
control over each arm. Being
able to use that to determine
which hand has the lighter
object and also the different
balance points. The saber
balance point is closer to the
handle. The rifle is in the exact
middle. You have to determine
how you’re going to
throw it before you even get
it into your hand.”
“Whenever I think I’ve finally
seen it all with him, he
steps it up another level,” Ramey
said.
Central also won the color
guard event.
The Knights placed second
in armed infantry drill regulation,
unarmed exhibition,
unarmed IDR and inspection.
They took third place in
armed exhibition. Chris Kuczero
and Matt Butler were
third in armed duet with 599
points, finishing 82 points behind
second-place Lockport
(681) and 27 points ahead
of fourth-place Bolingbrook
(572).
The unarmed duet of senior
Maddy Willson and Jade
Espinoza was fourth in the
event with 547 points. It finished
36 points behind thirdplace
East (583).
East senior cadet colonels
Tim Lutz and Kenny Smith
highlighted the Griffins’
three first-place finishes, the
most by any team at the invite.
Lutz and Smith overcame
a pair of rifle drops to win
the armed duet by 5 points
over Lockport seniors Noah
Frandsen and Antonio Lange.
They went directly after Senese
put his rifle and saber performance
on display.
“Watching that, and trying
to go up against that, it’s difficult
to keep to nerves down
because everybody’s expecting
you to be that good,”
Smith said.
“It definitely wasn’t our
best performance,” Lutz
added.
The duo agreed it was the
most difficult routine of the
four they had performed this
season. Even with the drops,
they plan to up the difficulty
for the conference championship
meet.
“We have a couple things
to add to up the difficulty,
polish up a few things,” Lutz
said. “Just work on that difficulty,
bring something new
(and) unexpected to each
competition to give us the
edge.”
“We’ve been trying to
amp it up every time,” Smith
added.
The Griffins also won the
armed exhibition and armed
infantry drill regulation.
Smith placed second in
armed solo with 706 points.
He finished 21 points behind
first-place Senese (727) and
12 points ahead of thirdplace
Edgar Cana (694) of
Lockport.
East took third in unarmed
infantry drill regulation and
unarmed duet. It was fourth
in color guard, unarmed exhibition
and inspection.
For Lockport, junior Edgar
Cana finished in third
place in armed solo in what
appeared to be the most competitive
event of the day. His
694 points were 12 behind
East senior cadet colonel
Kenny Smith, who was second
with 706 points.
“I don’t think he deserved
to be third place,”
said Brown, the Lockport
JROTC instructor. “He
should have finished in a
higher place. I know the
scoring is subjective, but he
operates at national-level
speed. … This is my 18th
year (coaching), and his is
the toughest routine I’ve
The four Air Force JROTC teams fill Lincoln-Way Central’s gymnasium for the awards ceremony. JROTC students learn
leadership and skills pertinent to their line of service.
Lincoln-Way East’s Armed Exhibition team reports in prior to performing their routine. The team would go on to win the
meet.
seen by one of my guys.”
Cana’s highlights included
blind catches and flips behind
his back, although a drop did
hurt him.
Central’s Senese, who won
the event, praised Cana, who
won armed solo at last year’s
Air Force Junior ROTC National
Drill Competition.
“I have to congratulate
my friend Edgar Cana from
Lockport. I’m surprised he
didn’t place higher. He did
absolutely phenomenal,”
Senese said.
In other events, Lockport
won the unarmed IDR and
inspection.
The Porters took second in
color guard. The armed duet
on seniors Noah Frandsen
and Antonio Lange, and the
unarmed duet of Patrick Mc-
Mahon and Lange were both
second.
“This was their (Frandsen
and Lange’s) first competition
of the season because
they had been helping freshmen,”
Brown said. “They
had a few rusty moves, but
I have no doubt they’ll be
ready for conference.”
Lockport placed third in
armed IDR and unarmed exhibition,
and did not compete
in armed exhibition.
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