“Right now, I’m killing them physically,” Command Sergeant Major Wilder said. The Junior ROTC class at HHS is preparing for the final and most important meet of the year. It will take place on April 25th, in Buckingham, Virginia.

The meet will include a vigorous two minutes each of pushups and situps, as well as requiring members to run a 5k. The HHS teams are also working on getting their rope bridge time down in preparation.

“We’re just gonna run the crap out of ‘em,” Wilder said. Despite his intense commands, Wilder’s love for his students is obvious; in between answering questions he engages in a continuous flow of banter with the kids milling around his office. However, he expects the best effort possible from every member.

“The female team is doing real good, they’re looking real good. I’d probably take every event down there for them,” Wilder said. “They’ll sweep.”

The female A team, which is the one Wilder is speaking about, is commanded by junior Isis Gutierrez-Ledesma. The other female team, B, is expected to win a few trophies, as well as the male team.

“Mixed team… probably eh. They’re struggling right now but we’re trying to figure it out,” Wilder said. This team is the only one made up of both girls and boys, and will continue to push for the last meet.

JROTC spends the whole year getting ready for this meet, and they aren’t about to stop pushing now.

“It’s the big one,” Wilder said.