McGowan and Strieb take fourth at drill championships

Medical Lake High School Junior ROTC cadets senior Katie McGowan and junior Josh Strieb added some hardware to the school's trophy case after they finished fourth in the dual armed competition at the National High School Drill Championships in Daytona Beach, Fla., May 2.

McGowan and Strieb have participated in various drill competitions during their high school careers. This year they took third at the Cascade League Championships in March to qualify for nationals. Strieb also won the solo armed drill competition at the Cascade League.

However, both cadets said the nationals drill championships was different than any competition they had participated in before.

"At our regular drill competitions I feel like there is not as much passion in what they (participants) do," McGowan said. "At nationals, everyone was the best of the best in where they are from. They all really cared about what they were doing and it showed. It was fantastic to watch, not just when they were performing but when they were practicing."

"It felt more important," Strieb added.

McGowan began competing in drill in her freshman year. In her second competition, she participated in a dual routine with a senior cadet where they placed in the top 3 due to lack of participation from other schools.

"Dual armed competition wasn't popular at first," McGowan said. "As we've gone on, and I do a dual competition every year, it became more popular so we had to fight for our spot to get into the top 3."

Strieb began competing in drill during his freshman year, mostly in solo competitions. As a sophomore, he partnered with McGowan for a dual armed routine last year. Both Strieb and McGowan said they've spent lot of time and effort practicing their routines leading up to the competition. They also researched and watched videos to see what they could add to their repertoire.

McGowan said Medical Lake has had drill teams qualify for nationals in previous years but they never went. This year, the Medical Lake Booster Club helped raise money to send McGowan and Strieb to the competition.

Besides the overall atmosphere, McGowan said the national competition had less rules than regular high school competitions, which allowed her and Strieb to change their routine. McGowan said she was on one knee while Strieb spun a rifle over her head, which is not allowed at regular competitions.

"For solo routines at regular competitions you can't spin the rifle more than two times," Strieb said. "At nationals, there's no limit. I was able to add a few things to my (solo) routine."

Strieb also broke his pinky finger the night before during practice, which he said affected "how precise I spun my rifle."

"It still felt like a normal competition, I didn't feel any more pressure," Strieb said.

Although McGowan won't continue competing in drill after she joins the U.S. Air Force following graduation, she was happy to get the opportunity to compete in nationals.

"Because the drill world, except for the unarmed competitions, is mostly (comprised of) guys, it was intimidating but we got fourth place, I was like 'I guess we are good,'" McGowan said. "I'm definitely glad we got to do it before I left high school."

As for Strieb he not only wants to return to nationals next year, he wants to take the whole drill team with him.

"I've already started to plan some fundraisers," Strieb said.

Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].