Five ROTC cadets earn spots on Sandhurst-bound Ranger Challenge team
(Published Feb. 18, 2020)
Five Austin Peay ROTC cadets recently proved themselves worthy for the Sandhurst military skills competition at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York.
By excelling at the Xavier University Ranger Challenge competition on Feb. 15, Cherady Fine, Shawn King, Ian Fearn, Madison Ellis and Jasmine Barrios will join Austin Peay鈥檚 Ranger Challenge team and prepare for Sandhurst.
They were among eight cadets who competed at Xavier, all with the goal of proving the deserved on the Sandhurst team.
鈥淭hey all did pretty good, kept a positive attitude and didn鈥檛 quit," said Keith Colman, the team's coach and a military sciences instructor at APSU. "It was hard to cut a few of them.鈥
Fine, King, Fearn, Ellis and Barrios will join cadets who鈥檝e already made the team, most of whom competed at Sandhurst last spring.
APSU鈥檚 ROTC Ranger Challenge team won the Bold Warrior Challenge in October at Fort Knox, Kentucky, qualifying Austin Peay for the second straight year for April鈥檚 globally renowned Sandhurst military skills competition at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. The cadets finished 29th at last year鈥檚 Sandhurst against the best teams from the U.S. service academies and from academies across the world.
鈥榃e鈥檝e been training our butts off鈥
Before the Xavier competition, ROTC Cadet Ryan Nanzer said, 鈥淲e鈥檙e using the Xavier competition as an assessment to figure out who we need to bulk up our team for Sandhurst. I honestly think our team is pretty stacked right now.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been training our butts off, trying to get in shape. I鈥檓 excited to see what happens.鈥
That the cadets were competing against each other to make the Sandhurst team 鈥 and not necessarily against other universities at the Xavier University competition 鈥 wasn鈥檛 lost on the competitors.
鈥淔rom the beginning of the semester, I feel like I鈥檝e been working pretty hard,鈥 said King, who鈥檚 studying computer science at Austin Peay. 鈥淚 get a shot at competing at the next level, at Sandhurst. Aside from my studies, that鈥檚 top priority right now.鈥
Added Barrios, a communication major, before the competition: 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to remember that we鈥檙e all one team, but at the same time, in the back of our minds, we鈥檒l know our partner is our competition. That鈥檚 going to be difficult for me.鈥
The Ranger Challenge team will compete in a 24-event mini-competition Feb. 29 and March 1 on campus. The mini-competition will mimic Sandhurst and include events such as land navigation, rope bridge and foot march.
To learn more about the Austin Peay ROTC program, go to .
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