Riverside, Calif. (April 1, 2016) – Two teams from California Baptist University's Army ROTC marched to success in the color guard event at the John J. Pershing Memorial Drill Competition held in March in Chantilly, Va.

The female squad, the only all-woman squad among 22 teams, won first place, and the men's team took third in the event.

Cadets on the winning CBU team were Shannon Garcia, Bryanna Mora, Sheraya Bentick and Imelda Camaja. Cadets on the men's team were Caleb Fink, Joshua Fink, Kevin Grebbien and Kendal Morris.

"It was definitely an honor, being the only all-female team to take first place," Bentick said. "Our team worked so hard for hours and hours on end, meticulously practicing to perfect our routine…  Our performance was the best run through of our routine that we had ever done. I am more than proud of our team and what we have accomplished."

Although the two CBU teams competed for the same prize, they still were rooting for each other.  When the men's team was docked for doing a command wrong, they told the women's team in hopes they would avoid the same error. 

"We may have gone up against each other, but we would always help each other out," said Fink, who also placed second in the individual drill knockout competition. "There was some friendly teasing before the competition, but we really wanted both teams to do their best."

This is the third consecutive year CBU teams have returned with awards. In 2015, the men's team placed third in the color guard event and 2014, the men's team took first place in the same category.

Pershing Rifles is an ROTC related national organization that was started by Lt. John J. Pershing in 1894 when he was the professor of military science at the University of Nebraska. Pershing Rifles drill teams compete in several categories, including squad regulation drill, platoon exhibition drill, individual drill and color guard.