Southold NJROTC drill team takes home awards from Mastic event

The Southold Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps drill team took home three awards, including two first-place prizes, at the William Floyd Annual Drill Meet and Air Rifle Competition in Mastic Saturday afternoon.

The team won first place in Varsity Academics and tied with Riverhead’s team for first place in Armed Drill. It also won third place in First-Year Academics.

The cadets also competed in a Tug of War contest but were knocked out by Riverhead, which went on to win nine awards, including first place overall at the meet.

Southold unit commander Major Bill Grigonis, who was named educator of the year in 2011 by the Suffolk Times, said that the corps was able to give younger cadets a chance in competition because the event wasn’t a qualifying meet.

Last year, the Southold corps was named the top unit in Area 4, which includes 52 units in the Northeast from Maine to Delaware, and went on to rank best overall out of all of the NJROTC units in the nation including overseas bases.