ISU Army ROTC wins regional Ranger Challenge

From Iowa State University News Service

AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State University's Army ROTC won the Task Force Dodge/Riley Ranger Challenge Competition for the sixth time in eight years. 

Seventeen teams competed in the event, which was held at Camp Dodge on Saturday, Oct. 8. Iowa State fielded two teams. The Red Team placed first in three out of nine events, earning an overall ranking of first place. The ISU Gold Team placed 10th overall.

"The purpose of the competition is to build camaraderie and esprit de corps amongst the teams," said Adam Giroux, adjunct instructor of military science and tactics, "We will face other schools that won their regional competition sometime later this year. If we win that, we earn a chance to compete at the Sandhurst competition held annually at West Point, N.Y."

Iowa State's Red Team finished first in the Army Physical Fitness Test (two minutes of push-ups, two minutes of sit-ups and a two-mile run), the Site Sensitive Exploitation event (gathering as much intelligence about a vehicle in as little time as possible) and in the 10K Foot March.

Other events included One Rope Bridge, Weapon Assembly/disassembly, Basic Rifle Marksmanship and Hand Grenade Assault Course.

The competition started at 5 a.m. Iowa State's teams finished by 9 p.m., while some teams did not complete the events until after midnight.

Other teams competing were the University of Iowa, University of Northern Iowa, Drake University, Buena Vista University, Creighton University, University of Kansas, Kansas State University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Pittsburg State University and Missouri Western State University.

Members of the first-place Red Team and the Gold Team are listed below with their majors and hometowns.

Red Team

Brandon Amerine, business, Muscatine

Zachary Graham, anthropology, Cedar Falls

Tanner Hildebrand, computer engineering, Hiawatha

Adam Hon, criminal justice, Armstrong

Jonathan Lazo, political science, Lebanon, Mo.

Ryan Lynch, occupational therapy/kinesiology, Byron, Ill.

Lucas Moore, history, Story City

Amanda Veen, interdisciplinary studies, Bouton

Steven Woods, psychology, Cedar Rapids

Gold Team

Rafael Alverio, biology, Council Bluffs

Amber Bruer, history, Williamsburg

Bailey Hullet, history, Faribault, Minn.

Philip Jacobs, criminal justice, Marion

Adam Nguygen, psychology, Davenport

Ben Quimby, mechanical engineering, Edina, Minn.

Jason Sadowski, finance, Manitowoc, Wis.

Adam Schilling, industrial technology, New Hampton

Eric Wilt, mechanical engineering, Antioch, Ill.