Belen’s NJROTC competes in the fifth annual Sahuarita “Beast” Raider Meet

Belen High Schools’ NJROTC unit traveled to Sahuarita, Ariz., in September to participate in the fifth annual Sahuarita NJROTC “Beast” Raider Meet.

The Raider team has been practicing since last year and all summer to prepare for this meet. The event gave the team an opportunity to compete against top schools from Arizona and California, all who competed in this event last year.

This competition had 10 skills events, all of which challenged the physical and problem-solving skills of our cadets. After the 10 events, cadets who wanted to participate in “The Beast” 5K would maneuver through some of the events that they did earlier in the day and finish to a splash of water from the fire truck in the 104-degree day.

Three of the Belen cadets — Stephan Ulibarri, Tristan Frazier and Braden McKillip — participated in “The Beast” and were able to finish it. The local team brought in a fourth-place trophy on the sled push and came in fifth on the Farmer’s Walk.

There were 26 teams, from 15 schools from Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. The Belen High School team, made up of six females and four males, were led by their commanding officer and physical fitness team captain, Sithandra Dowdy.

Team members were, seniors, Sithandra Dowdy, Sarah Coen and Anida Clayton; juniors, Braden McKillip and Stephan Ulibarri; and sophomores, Haydee Martinez, Skyla Lopez and Daisy Franco, Christian Montoya and Tristan Frazier.