Richards senior named top NJROTC cadet in Midwest

Austin Spyrnal, the student commander for the U.S. Navy JROTC program at Richards, has been named the number one senior cadet out of 53 NJROTC units in the eight Midwest states comprising NJROTC Area 3.

He also has won the Joseph C. Gilliam Award (one of just 11 national winners of this honor) and Essay contest.

Selection criteria involved writing an essay on the topic "How do you meet the challenges of leadership during COVID-19 in your unit or personal life." Also factored in were academic acumen, community service, leadership, and school involvement in sports or other extra-curricular activities.

"Austin's outstanding academic performance and hard work at school and in the community reflect his commitment to excellence as a student, as a cadet and as a responsible citizen. Cadet Spyrnal's personal dedication, accomplishments, and leadership reflected great credit upon himself and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps," said Area 3 Manager CDR (ret.) Joe Hankins.

Spyrnal competed against over 1500 NJROTC senior cadets in Area 3 for this award. He completed four years of perfect attendance at Richards with a grade point average of 4.6.

He will attend Missouri S&T University next fall where he will be studying engineering.