It was a day of firsts for Oak Harbor High School’s Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps drill and rifle teams.

In the first drill meet of the season, held Dec. 10 at Tacoma’s Mount Tahoma high school, the cadets of Wildcat Battalion dominated among the 10 schools in the district, with a majority of first-place finishes.

Team awards for first place included color guard one and two; unarmed and armed drill teams; physical strength team one; air rifle team one. Physical strength team two placed second, and air rifle team two placed fourth.

Individual awards included the following categories: unarmed drill team commander Joyce Abides, second; armed drill team commander Josh Koorn, second; air rifle overall shooter awards — Artan Cetin, fifth; Chel Moore, second; Josh McVey, first; physical strength Ironman/Ironwoman awards — Josh McVey, first; Cody Hernkind, second; Jahleel Vester, fourth; Joyce Abides, fourth; Tricia Desquitado, third; armed drill down (Simon says/rifle drill movements) — Sean Crosby, fourth; and Darlene Salcedo, second.

The Northwest drill and rifle conference has 34 schools in Western Washington and Oregon and consists of units representing Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps JROTC programs. Cmdr. Michael Black and Chief William Thiel lead Oak Harbor’s NJROTC unit.