Rifle Team Achieves Strong Rankings in 2024 JROTC CMP Regionals Qualifier

In December, the Missouri Military Academy (MMA) rifle team completed the 2024 JROTC CMP Regionals Qualifier. Their strong finishing has earned the team eligibility for the 2025 JROTC Service Championships, scheduled at Camp Perry, Ohio, from February 13–15, 2025. The Colonels team earned three team slots to compete at regionals. Congratulations to Cadet Elford, who is ranked in the top 15 of more than 400 competitors in the Western Region.

"This year's MMA rifle team has a broad spectrum of skill levels. Led by Team Captain Turmunkh, they have formed, stormed, normed, and performed as a team," said coach CW4 Jason Landrum, USA (Ret). "With MMA's team receiving three team slots for regionals this year versus the two we received last year, it is a testament to the team's dedication to improvement and motivation to be competitive."

The team secured the following rankings:

• 3rd Brigade Region (MO, KS, IL, MN): Fourth, sixth and 12th out of 23 teams.
• Camp Perry Region (MO, PA, KY, OH, MA, KS, VA, IL, IN, WV, MI, NC, NY, MD, MN, ME, TX, Germany): Second, seventh and 15th out of 94 teams.

Key contributors to these results include Cadets Aaron Elford, Khuslen Turmunkh, Buyankhishig Batbold and Duane Thompson.

Individually, Cadet Elford (in photo below) ranked:

• 12th out of 407 competitors within the Western Region.
• 33rd out of 1,598 competitors across all regions.

Team members include the following:

• Buyankhishig Batbold ’25 (senior) from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
• Aaron Elford ’24 (post-graduate) from Eugene, OR
• Amarbayasgalan Enkhbaatar ’27 (sophomore) from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
• Jesus Gonzalez ’29 (8th grade) from Otsego, MN
• Preston Jones ’27 (sophomore) from Memphis, TN
• William Larson ’27 (sophomore) from Dardenne Prairie, MO
• Erdembayar Munkhbolor ’25 (senior) from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
• Carter Munsch ’28 (freshman) from Loveland, CO
• Bret Sietsema ’27 (sophomore) from Saint Cloud, MN
• Duane Thompson ’26 (junior) from Troy, MO
• John Trippe ’26 (junior) from Cleveland, TN
• Khuslen Turmunkh ’25 (senior) from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
• Henry Westerman ’25 (senior) from Eagan, MN

For detailed competition results, click here.