West Oso High School Shooting Team Aims for a Bright Future

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Some members of the West Oso High School shooting team are looking to shoot for the stars — in this case, a better future.

On Wednesday, October 23, the varsity JROTC marksmanship team competed in the Military Order of the World War (MOWW) competition. The team finished 2nd out of 7 teams in all of Corpus Christi.

Jerimya Gonzalez is part of the team and hopes to one day join the US Army. He said being on the team taught him discipline and morals that he would carry for the rest of his life.

Interest began to show in him in high school, and he has been on the team for three years.

Students learn how to properly use air guns and everything related to safety.

“When I first came here, I didn’t think I would end up where I am now, and I learned about the moral part, like integrity, which is one of the Army’s 7 Values, which is always doing the right thing. even behind closed doors,” Gonzalez said.

Mariah Vela, captain of the shooting team, said she learned resilience.

“I’ve learned not to give up no matter what, if you have bad days or if you’re struggling, just keep fighting, you may not think you can reach the top but you can,” she said.

During MOWW competition, she recently placed 6th out of 24 in the entire Corpus Christi region, scoring 250 points and earning the Expert Badge, which is the highest of the three badges.

The competition awards the titles “Expert”, “Shooter” and “Sniper”. The entire team placed in the top ten.

But there are some requirements to get on the team.

“They have to take a test and score 100, they take it until they pass it, and for the most part it’s a lot of safety rules that they have to follow,” Lt. Col. Oscar Vela said.

He added that this team shows students discipline, integrity and leadership and prepares them for the future.

“With the small number of bullets they shoot, it’s not easy, so they become really good marksmen, and when they go into the military, it’s easier for them to qualify to shoot,” Vela said.

West Osos Marksmanship has been around for 19 years, but the team has now been shooting together for two years and has a total of five members.

The shooting team will compete in San Antonio on November 6th against other teams from South Texas. They hope to advance to the national championship.

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