by Emmerson Clark | staff writer

It’s her last year in ROTC, but senior Sara Mercado isn’t putting on the brakes.

Throughout her career so far, Mercado has continuously won state titles. But she didn’t stop there.

This year Mercado won second in State for sporter and third in the Hays Buckle Match.

“Even though I got third place [in Hayes Buckle Match] it was nice seeing one of our own teammates get first place,” Mercado said. 

Mercado has been in ROTC all four years of high school but this year has been her most successful. 

“We went to nationals two times. I have won two state titles for being the second place in the State of Texas,” Mercado said. 

Mercado isn’t the first in her family to participate in ROTC.

“My older sister [got me into ROTC], she ended up telling me how fun it was to do certain things in it,” Mercado said. 

Despite having no family in the military, Mercado is still considering the military as a career.

“It’s a maybe for me. Because I want to go through college first and see how it goes,” Mercado said. 

Mercado describes the ROTC community as a big family, not just a class.

“The raiders team is my main reason why I stuck to it,” Mercado said. 

When competing, Mercado focuses on the trophy and the trophy alone.

“It’s fun, because in a way you get all this adrenaline so you feel like you can do anything,” Mercado said.