They have a symbolic target on their back, and that is fine with them.

It’s the burden of being the defending national champions.

A group of sporter class air rifle marksmen from Oak Harbor High School, competing for the school’s Navy Junior Reserve Officers Corps squad and the S-Cubed club team, completed an award-winning 2014-15 season by reeling in the Civilian Marksmanship Program national championship in June.

S-Cubed, coached by Dave Goodman, won the CMP title with a record score of 2,212 with 76 bull’s-eyes out of a possible 2,400-240. And they did it without one of their sharpest shooters.

Mara Rouse was picked up by the West Seattle Sportsmen’s Club and competed in a higher class, precision. The precision class includes international- and Olympic-caliber marksmen, and Rouse earned several silver medals in the division.

Rouse, now a senior, returns this season along with four veterans of the national tournament, senior Micah Moss and juniors Austin McBride, Abby Holt and Mia Gehrmann.

At the national meet, McBride finished seventh in the overall individual standings and Gehrmann shot a personal best.

Gehrmann’s father, Ian Gehrmann, will serve as assistant coach this year.

“He was instrumental in the team doing well at nationals because he gave the team two incredible pep talks,” Goodman said.

The Oak Harbor NJROTC rifle team has dominated the league and regional competition for decades, according to instructor Commander Mike Black.

Last year, for example, the top five shooters out of 84 in the Olympic Division  were from Oak Harbor.

Under the guidance of Goodman, Oak Harbor’s success has spread beyond area ROTC competition.

Last season, in addition to winning the national CMP crown, S-Cube won the club division and finished 13th overall in the national U.S. Junior Olympic tournament.

It captured its third consecutive Washington state title in January, then finished first in the club division and third overall at the regional tournament in April.

The Wildcat NJROTC team was second at the regional meet and 14th (third among Navy teams) at the national finals.

In spite of Oak Harbor’s continued success in the Pacific Northwest, it went into the CMP national competition under the radar.

“No one knew who we were,” McBride said. “We came out of nowhere and beat them all.”

Winning the title still hasn’t sunk in, Moss said. “It hasn’t hit yet; it is still pretty surreal.”

Black credits Goodman for the jump in competitiveness of the Oak Harbor program. Goodman deflects all the credit back to his athletes.

Goodman, who shot for the U.S. Navy team, is entering his fifth year as the OHHS coach. His passion for shooting is so great, he also helps some of Oak Harbor competitors, teams from Snohomish and Marysville-Pilchuck.

Goodman welcomes anyone regardless of his or her hometown to join S-Cubed, which is based out of the Central Whidbey Sportsmen’s Club. S-Cubed’s Ashley Wilkins and John House, both from Snohomish, qualified as individuals for the 2014 national tournament.

Moss offered himself as a good example of Goodman’s coaching abilities: “I went from never touching a gun before to going to nationals in one year. He instructs you and builds on that.”

Rouse said Goodman offers a good balance: “He knows how to coach; he’s had so many great coaches himself. He doesn’t over explain and he doesn’t under explain. He is persistent and stresses the need to know the basics.”

One of the basics is mental toughness, McBride said.

“Shooting is only 10 percent physical, if even that,” he said.

“If you can learn the mindset you are going to have fun, then you are going to win,” McBride said. “We did great at nationals because we knew we were going to have fun.”

Rouse and Moss echoed the need to be mentally strong.

“You don’t want to over think and you don’t want to over compensate,” Rouse said.

To be a successful shooter, Moss said, “You try not to be as physical as possible. You have to be still and not move. It’s mind over matter.”

The Oak Harbor shooters began practicing this week with an eye on another championship.

Oak Harbor lost its top shooter from last year, Colton Baumgardner, to graduation, and Hailey Hahn, who finished fourth individually at nationals, moved.

The returning team members said it is important for them to help bring in new students to give the squad quality depth.

“I help recruit,” Rouse said. “As captain, I try to make the new members feel comfortable and not scared. Being nervous doesn’t make for a good shooter.

“I also try to make sure the returning shooters are ready to go.”

With the success of his team in the sporter class, Goodman decided it was time for his club to up its game. Oak Harbor will field a team in the precision class this year.

“Precision is what they shoot in college and at the Olympics,” Goodman said. “Exposing these kids to that level opens more doors for them.”

Rouse is one of those who wishes to compete in college and beyond. She said the service academies recruit shooters and some colleges, like the University of Texas at El Paso, offer scholarships. Her ultimate goal is to make the Olympic team.

“I got a taste of it when I shot next to Olympians at Fort Benning (site of the nationals),” she said.

After winning a national title last year, will anything short of that be a failure?

“If you try your hardest and have fun, it doesn’t matter if you win everything,” Moss said. “You can’t have regrets if your tried your hardest and lost.”

Bulls-eye.