Rick Gunn/Nevada Appeal Carson High School NJROTC Andrew Stephenson, 16, struggles during tug-of-war competition at a field meet Wednesday.
Rachel Harvick's job was to encourage the members of Platoon 4 to be resilient and tough and to come to ease only after they had each given her their 20.
Her continual "Go, go, go!" and "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" kept the five guys from the Naval Junior ROTC platoon moving quickly. They gave her the 20 push-ups, coming down to the top of her fist for each one, then ran back to their platoon.
It wasn't quite enough effort to win. Platoon 2 took top place in the first event of the Naval Junior ROTC spring competition at Carson High School Wednesday afternoon. But Platoon 4 would have 10 other opportunities to win in events like Dizzy Izzy, the wheelbarrow race and tug of war.
"We do this competition every spring," said Cmdr. Skip Cannady, Carson High's adult supervisor for NJROTC. "Usually the weather is a little better. This competition helps prepare us for the field meet on April 30."
Temperatures were moderate Wednesday afternoon, but the wind made the hourlong competition cold for students in shorts.
At the April 30 field meet, Carson High students will compete against other NJROTC companies in similar events.
"Isn't this great?" Cannady asked, laughing as students ran back to their platoons after taking a turn at Dizzy Izzy, which involves putting their heads to the top of a bat and circling around it 10 times. "It's sort of a non-athletic athletic competition."
In the three-legged race, Platoon 2 members Sam Ferla and Nikita Jensen dropped on the ground after the tie around their legs was loosened.
"What we were doing was moving our center legs together first," Nikita said. "Then our outside legs, but our legs became too far spread apart (because of the tie)."
Nonetheless, the Platoon 3 girls were champions. Their laughter subsiding, they pulled themselves up off the grass, finished the leg of the race in tandem, and concluded it behind the finish line with a hug.
"We were having a lot of fun," Jensen said.
n Contact reporter Maggie O'Neill at moneill@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.