It was a big weekend for the Smithfield High School JROTC program Dec. 10.

The Rifle Team competed as one of the top 20 teams in the brigade and placed fifth overall in Hickory, North Carolina.

The rifle competition saw the Packer marksmen, ranked No. 1 in Virginia, shoot their overall team best with a combined 1998 total after qualifying 16th with a score of 1861. Junior Nymiar Towns placed seventh overall among all novice shooters in the brigade, and senior Caroline Lewton and junior Colton Stalls both placed in the top 20 in the Brigade of 250 competitors.

“This year the competition was awesome and the team really stepped up and improved their score to finish fifth,” said retired Lt. Col. Peter Badoian, the team’s coach. “What is great is they all knew they could have shot better, which provides the motivation to practice even harder for the February competitions.

The brigade consists of Army JROTC Programs from Maryland to South Carolina. The Packers are still the No. 1 Army JROTC rifle team in Virginia, Badoian said.

The next major competition will be the Army Northeast Regionals at Camp Perry, Ohio, Feb. 10-11.