Yes they do push-ups in the stream, and yes they’re up at 5 a.m. on a Saturday morning—it’s officially Raider season!

November 9 a select group of the JROTC cadets participated in Zero Day: a vigorous final tryout for a coveted spot on the Raider team.

The team has been practicing once a week since early October to prepare for Zero Day and slowly lose cadets who were not physically up to the challenge.

The competition raider team will compete in a league competition against other Western Pennsylvania JROTC programs.

Since October, seven cadets have dropped out of the running, and two cadets made it to Zero Day but did not finish.

Zero Day always takes place at the high school, but many people don’t realize it since the event finishes before the sun is up.

To prepare for Zero Day, the 300s hallway is turned into a complete Raider Land with signs and posters covering every locker. Plus, there are always many spectators and parents who drive behind the running Raiders and offer motivation for the grueling morning.

Zero Day started promptly at 5 a.m. with a chilly temperature of 35 degrees. (Where was the 80 degree weather from the previous week???)

To begin, senior captain Ava Sutter and junior co-captains Seth Kullen and Boyce Hill motivated the Raider candidates by yelling for wall sits and pushups to try and raise spirits, but the real fun hadn’t even started.

The team quickly ran to the back practice field and started their first test: the field events. Set up on the field were six different stations that would test cadets’ strength and running perseverance.

The six stations included burpees, water jug carries, sit-ups with a log, more pushups (there’s a pattern of push-ups), ammo can carries, and flutter kicks.

Each station lasted two minutes and cadets ran a lap around the field between each station.

The run straight into the events left many cadets fearing the big run that was ahead of them.

Following the stations, cadets ran Gypsy Glen Road with rifles to the Two Mile Run Park lodge. All female cadets were paired with a partner where they got to switch out their rifles, but the boys all had to carry their own.

This is when the final cadets dropped out.

Once everyone reached Two Mile Run Park, rifles were dropped off into awaiting cars and the fun took place.

The “Baptism” is an annual Zero Day tradition. To be “baptized” cadets jump into the water by the waterfall, cross the stream, and touch the Raider sign on the other side of the stream.

Despite no rain for a few weeks the captains of the team were able to successfully dam the water into a pool a few hours before the football game the previous night and then break it that morning.

This meant that there was three feet of water pooled in the stream and cadets who chose to completely dunk themselves had the option to do so.

Once the group got back to the field by the track, they took a stop at the back practice field to do the low crawl and get a bit muddy.

Each cadet had to crawl through the pit four times before forming back up and running back towards the school.

To complete the trifecta of water, mud, and leaves, cadets ran up the hill into the woods to do sit-ups against trees. To do this cadets sprinted as hard as they could up the hill until they heard a whistle to find a tree. When the whistle sounds, cadets lay with their legs around the tree and try to get a few sit-ups in before they hear a yell to continue running up the hill.

Finally, the cadets ran back to the stream that goes under the school for more (you guessed it) push-ups.

This stream only had a few inches of water, so it didn’t necessarily clean any mud or leaves off of the prospective Raiders.

Once the day was finally over, finishers met on the field to receive their Raider tabs. (Tabs go on JROTC uniforms to symbolize completing the team’s brutal tryout; those who make the competition team receive cords.)

The kicker for this year was that an honorary raider received a tab, Superintendent Dr. Sean Aiken.

Parents and spectators were amazed by Dr. Aiken’s ability to do absolutely everything from the physical test that is Zero Day.

The Raider team got to see our superintendent not walking the halls in a suit but rather jumping into freezing water and crawling beside students.

To finish the morning, all Zero Day participants received a complimentary breakfast from the Hot Dog Shoppe funded by the JROTC Parent Support Group.