Jenesis May was the last cadet standing in the armed individual drill event at the 2022 Army Drill National Championships in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Smith-Cotton High School JROTC Cadet Jenesis May, a sophomore, won the armed individual drill competition at the 2022 Army Drill National Championships in Daytona Beach, Fla.

According to a news release, almost 300 cadets flooded the competition floor to vie for the title. Trained military experts excused cadets who failed to complete commands with precision.

“They would call out different movements, and they would call out trick commands; like if you are at right shoulder, you can’t do a facing movement, so you have to be paying attention,” May said.

As the second-place cadet was tapped out, May remained focused.

“I don’t even remember what the crowd did… I was confused, I couldn’t believe it. I kind of just stood there for a second,” May said.

S-C Senior Army Instructor Lt. Col. (Ret.) Harry Cunningham said May performed better than all other cadets in stationary drill and the manual of arms.

“From what I could see, everything (May) did was perfect,” Cunningham said.

May attributes his performance to the Tiger Battalion’s practice mindset of treating every drill as if it were a competition. Cunningham said the purpose is for more than drill readiness.

“In the military, we have an old adage that says, ‘Train as you fight.’ So we extend that to here, ‘Practice as you compete,’” he said. “When the pressure is on, it is just muscle memory and they can just go out and do it. That same mindset will carry on wherever they go.”

Cunningham thanked S-C JROTC supporters in the community for making the Florida trip possible and said May has impressed the JROTC instructors since his early days in the program.

Photos courtesy Smith-Cotton JROTC and Inter-State Studio