Local Pender JROTC team is headed to the national stage after winning the ‘4th Brigade Best of Best Raider Competition’
PENDER COUNTY, NC (WWAY)– The Pender High School male raider team recently won a tough competition at Fort Bragg, and now they’re headed to the national stage.
“I think we have the best kids on the raider team, in the United States of America,” said Sergeant Major David Shaw. He is talking about the male raider team he instructs at Pender High School.
This past month, the male Raider team earned 1st place overall at the 4th Brigade Best of the Best Raider Competition, which featured nine other schools representing states like South Carolina, and Maryland, and the District of Columbia.
The event consisted of rope bridging, a knot relay race, a 5k run, and other challenges that tested the kids’ endurance.
Shaw says all the team’s hard work finally paid off.
“It makes me feel great. We go to the event, we had to do a qualifier for Best of the Best, but we go in there and every team says, ‘There’s Pender. Someone’s going to finish second because Pender is going to finish first,’” Shaw said. “We are just that school and team.”
Pasco Horton bought into his instructor’s attitude. He is the commander for the male’s raider team and looks at Shaw as a father figure.
“He definitely treats me like a son, he is hard on me, but I appreciate it,” said Horton. “I am thankful for everything he has done for me while I’m here.”
Although the male team is headed to nationals, this is not just a boy’s club.
Shaw helped create an all-female version of the raiders and helped them get to second place in their first ever competition.
“It’s really scary, but the sense of accomplishment that you feel after you complete something you thought you would never be able to do, is really amazing,” said Mary Lippard. She is a freshman at Pender High School, and although it took some time, she got over initial jitters to rope up the competition and attributes the team’s success to their visionary leader.
“I really appreciate everything that he has done for me and for believing in me,” said Lippard.
The male raider’s team will be headed to Fort Knox for the “Raider Nationals” on April 16th.
