MEDIA RELEASE
Brooksville - They did it again! Central High School NJROTC’s Air Rifle Team won the Navy Air Rifle State Championship this past weekend. While that alone is an amazing achievement – this marks the FIFTH consecutive year the team has taken the coveted title!
The four-member team competed against 28 other Florida teams and prevailed to take the day, beating out larger Florida schools in Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and Miami, to name a few. The rifle team includes: Evan Elders (senior), who took the honor of Top Athlete of the competition against 108 others; Alexa Tybor (senior); Kaleb St. Clair (senior); and Travis Sickler (junior).
“I am so proud of each and every one of the cadets on the air rifle team,” said retired Master Gunnery Sergeant Michael Arnett, Central’s rifle coach. “They have sacrificed so much of their time and energy to this program, practicing more than two hours every day and, in doing so, continue to win on a state level and competing on a national level.”
The team will represent Florida at the Navy National Air Rifle competition Feb. 1 in Sandy, Utah. To qualify for this national event, Central High School competed against 272 other schools and 2,473 other athletes nationwide. Kaleb St. Clair places 9th (top 3 percent nationally), and the team places 4th (top 1.4 percent) nationally.
"(This) Central High School team is one of a very few in our state - and in any sport - that can claim such a distinguished record," Arnett said.
Attached picture (from left): Travis Sickler, Kaleb St, Clair, Alexa Tybor and Evan Elders.
