Schools
Southold's Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps Finds Success
This weekend was a successful one for the North Fork's NJROTC battalion at William Floyd High School in Mastic Beach.
The unit won many awards from the William Floyd Drill Competition in Mastic Beach on Saturday.
The battalion, comprising more than 120 cadets, won first place in the following categories: Personnel Inspection, commanded by Kellie Stepnoski; Armed Basic Platoon, commanded by Matt Ireland; Varsity Academics, commanded by Kevin Reyer; and Two Cadet Armed Trick, team of Matt Ireland and Zach Hinsch.
Second place trophies were earned for Varsity Basic Platoon, commanded by Abbie Heins; Varsity Color Guard, commanded by Kat Bertschi; Color Guard, commanded by Joseph Peroni; and Varsity Personnel Inspection, commanded by Bill Goggins. A third place trophy was also earned for Basic Squad, commanded by Ian Husak.
Find out what's happening in North Forkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Christina Fasolino and Shelby Pickerell were in fourth place for Air Rifle; Kelsey Mehrman, Kelsea Cassone, and Kellie Stepnoski were in ninth, sixth, and fourth places, respectively, for Drill Knockout; a medal for third place overall Academics was won by Dylan Stromski; and a second place overall academic medal earned by Eric Izzo.
Maj. William Grigonis, the battalion's Senior Naval Science Instructor said that two cadets in particular contributed to the unit's achievements this weekend: Freshman Kellie Stepnoski and junior Matt Ireland, both from Mattituck. Stepnoski led her inspection to a first place victory, and Ireland, described by Major Grigonis as "a young man who is a total professional and can do it all," commanded the first place Armed Basic team and competed in six teams total, all of whom won either first or second place.
Find out what's happening in North Forkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Maj. Grigonis said that the unit will use the mistakes and successes of this drill competition to prepare for upcoming events by watching videos of the teams' performances, correcting drill deck errors, studying academically, and continuing to work with the first-year cadets to make them more confident.
"The fall competitions allow us to work out the bugs and find the right combinations of team members," Maj. Grigonis said.
Maj. Grigonis and the cadets have a busy month ahead, with annual inspection on Dec. 10 and the drill competition held at Mattituck High School on Dec.18. Annual Inspection includes an inspection of all 264 cadets and will include the unveiling of the revamped armed trick and female drill teams.
