(Featured image is Pueblo County AJROTC)
With one week remaining in the National Air Rifle League regular season, postseason invites are on the line.
Four Precision teams are within 2.07 points of each other, vying for the final spot into the Championship Tournament, where 8 teams qualify for postseason play. C. T. Johnson AJROTC (4 - 2) is in eighth place, Camden County NJROTC (1 - 5) is in ninth place just .27 points behind, Eldorado MCJROTC (2 - 4) is in tenth place another .73 points back, and just .48 points behind them is Robinson High School (4 - 2) in eleventh place.
In the Sporter league, five teams are vying for the final two spots in their postseason tournaments, where 16 teams qualify for postseason play. C.T. Johnson AJROTC (2 - 4) is 15th, Kelly Walsh MCJROTC (2 - 4) is 16th, Pueblo County AJROTC (2 - 2) is 17th, Bradley Central AJROTC (2 - 4) is 18th, and South Panola AFJROTC (3 - 3) is 19th. These five teams are separated by only 8 points.
The Sporter and Precision leagues culminates in a three week, eight team, single elimination tournament to determine the league champion. To qualify, teams must be a member of the prestigious Champions Division and be one of the top eight performing teams from the regular season.
In the Sporter Champions conference, there is a second “Invitational” tournament for teams seeded 9 through 16.
In the Distinguished and Elite Divisions, the top two teams from each conference get invited to compete for their respective conference title in a single postseason conference title game. In the Champions division only, conference titles are won based on regular season play only.
Postseason games start the week after Thanksgiving.
Zion Benton NJROTC (7 - 0) finished their regular season schedule this past week with a win over Pascagoula NJROTC (5 - 1). The win tops off a perfect regular season for them, their fourth in the National Air Rifle League. They previously went undefeated in the 2015, 2016, and 2017 regular seasons. This win also guarantees them their eighth consecutive Navy JROTC Champions Division title. In fact, they are the only school to have won this title, winning it in all eight seasons of the league.
Zion Benton NJROTC has a bye week this coming week, but will return for the postseason, likely seeded 1 or 2 going into the Championship Tournament. Final seedings will be announced next week. Pascagoula NJROTC finished their regular season against C. T. Johnson AJROTC (2 - 4).
Keeping their second place ranking wasn’t easy for Sutter Union High School (5 - 1) this week. They edged out, by only 4.3 points, fourth-ranked Granbury MCJROTC. Led by Savannah Criddle with a 614.7, Sutter Union High School finished with a 2445.3, their second highest score this season.
Sutter Union High School will finish the regular season competing against seventh-ranked Sarasota Military Academy (2 - 1). Granbury MCJROTC competes against third-ranked Everett Sportsman Junior Rifle Club (4 - 2).
With one week left in the regular season this year, here are the current cutoff scores (if the season was ending today) to earn a spot on the Champions and Distinguished Divisions next season (2024 season).
To earn a spot in the Champions Division, teams are reminded that they must also shoot a minimum qualifying score in at least one sanctioned competition.
