On Thursday, May 3rd the North Point armed and unarmed drill teams boarded a charter bus and traveled to Daytona Beach Florida to compete in the National High School Drill Team Championship. The teams competed in eight events on Saturday, May 5th. The events were Armed Exhibition, Armed Regulation, Armed Color Guard, Armed Inspection, Unarmed Regulation, Unarmed Inspection, Unarmed Exhibition and Unarmed Color Guard.

The teams were commanded by Kathryn O’Grady (’12) (Armed Exhibition), Aaron Harper (’13)( Armed Regulation), Terrance Hayes (’12) (Armed Color Guard), Ray Salvagnini (’12) (Armed Inspection), Jamey Finley (’13) (Unarmed Regulation), Enrique Osborne (’13) (Unarmed Inspection), Daija Hunter (’13) (Unarmed Exhibition), and Tierra Marbray (’13) (Unarmed Color Guard).

The teams prepared for this competition all year by competing at multiple drill competitions within the Charles-Prince George’s County area. They also practiced after school every week. “We work really hard, because we want to be the best we can be,” said Harper.

The teams performed well at the National Drill Competition, but they did not place. “We performed at our best and we gave it our all,” added Finley. The competition gave the teams the drive to work harder for next year’s nationals.

The teams were able to experience many different types of drilling while at the competition. They watched various routines from teams from all the different branches (Air Force, Army, Marines, and Navy). “It was a great experience, being exposed to the various drill teams,” said Kortney Brothers (’14).

The commanders were very proud of their teams for the hard work they had put into their performances. “I was glad to see how hard everyone worked and performed and couldn’t be more proud of them,” commented O’Grady. At the end of the trip, the seniors of the team wished the underclassmen the best of luck in their future competitions.