THOMASVILLE — The Thomas County Central JROTC Raider team are champions once again. For the third time in a row the male team won the region championship and the mixed team, which is only in its second year, took home the region title as well.

“It’s probably the best year we’ve had up to this point. You really can’t get any better than having two primary teams both winning the championship,” said Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Ingram, the coach of the TCC Raider program.

The Raider competition allows JROTC cadets to compete on behalf of their schools, battling in events that are built around physical fitness. Cadets compete in six different events such as a team run, a one rope bridge, and a cross country rescue where cadets carry weighted objects over rough terrain and obstacles. All events are timed and the team with the lowest overall time wins.

This year, Central produced three teams; a male team, a mixed team, and a secondary male team. Each team is comprised of twelve cadets and ten compete in each event. Of the 34 cadets that participated in Central’s Raider program, 22 of them were brand new to the sport. But, Lieutenant Colonel Ingram has built a training program that gets his cadets into competition shape. Lieutenant Colonel Ingram has taken training methods from other sports such as cross country, football, and wrestling and combined them. The cadets work hard and it has clearly paid off in the form a a region title.

The male and mixed teams will now go on to compete for a state title at Spaulding High School on October 28.