SOUTHWEST FLORIDA, (WINK) — The Mariner High School Junior ROTC marksmanship team has built one of the best resumes in the country.
The Tritons have won six national championships and nine state titles in the past four years. This season, they added three more state championships, sweeping what some in the sport call Florida’s “Triple Crown”, titles through JROTC, the American Legion and the Civilian Marksmanship Program.
But inside Mariner’s range, the target is bigger than the one downrange.
With air rifles in hand, athletes fire pellets at paper targets, with each shot tracked instantly on tablets beside them. It is a sport that demands focus, patience and control.
“Once we’re shooting, you’re locked in, and you’re just focused, it’s you, your rifle, and the target,” team commander Zoe Enslin said.
Enslin and co-captain Elyssa Vazquez are two of the team’s top shooters. Vazquez said this season was especially rewarding because of how far the team came.
“We really achieved all of our goals that we never thought we could meet, that’s pretty cool,” Vazquez said.
“Winning three state championships this year is really, it’s amazing. You don’t see every team doing that,” Enslin said.
Head coach and Army veteran Marybeth Williams said the success is about more than marksmanship.
“It’s an all-around character that we try to instill in them,” Williams said.
That character shows up outside the range.
The team has carried a 3.6 cumulative grade-point average for six straight years, according to the program. It also has a 97% school attendance rate and has had no disciplinary infractions in six years.
For Enslin and Vazquez, the lessons are already shaping what comes next.
Enslin recently became certified as a nursing assistant and plans to study to become an anesthesiologist.
“So I’m gonna be working as a CNA, a certified nursing assistant, while I’m studying to be an anesthesiologist,” Enslin said.
Vazquez plans to attend Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, study aeronautical science and join ROTC. She hopes to become a military officer and pilot.
“I want to be a pilot,” Vazquez said. “Being a pilot is very similar to the sport of marksmanship; it’s a lot of focus under pressure, knowing all the different fundamentals.”
Major Bryan Williams said that is the part of the program he and Marybeth are most proud of.
“The team and the awards and the trophies are great,” he said. “But the scholarships after school, the grade point averages, the discipline is what we’re really proud of, and we brag about those.”
For Marybeth Williams, the trophies are only part of the story. The bigger win is seeing students leave Mariner with discipline, direction and a plan.
“The athletes that they become towards the end of the season is just amazing to watch,” Williams said. “They’re not just here for marksmanship. And to see them all doing something afterwards, it’s like a proud parent, not just a coach.”