The Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Raiders won first place at the state competition on Dec. 2. This is the third year in a row Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School has had a champion team.

The competition consisted of five events: a five kilometer in the morning, a weighted mile, an obstacle course, weighted sprint and a rope bridge. During the obstacle course, students carry weights, crawl and lift canoes. For the rope bridge, students create a zipline from two trees then take it down as quickly as possible.

This year the JROTC female Raider team qualified for states out of the three teams male, mixed and female.

“It was harder to win in the female category and we still won,” Battalion Commander Elizabeth Velasco said.

Leading up to the state competition, members of JROTC ran a five kilometer almost everyday, ran with backpacks filled with sand and practiced two to three hours after school.

“It’s really tough, I’ve been on the state championship team all three years,” Velasco said.

In the years to come, the Raiders will continue working hard to qualify for states. Their next competition is Drill, which will take place this weekend from Dec. 9 to Dec. 10.