ROTC Team Victorious at Regional Competition

PROVO, Utah – Dec 03, 2012 – Conquering physically and mentally demanding obstacles, Brigham Young University’s Army ROTC team secured another win at the Apache Challenge–Utah competition — marking 29 wins in the past 31 years of competing.

The competition, previously known as the Ranger Challenge, was held at Camp Williams near Lehi, Utah. ROTC programs from around the country come to the showdown to be tested on small-unit leadership, basic soldier skills and problem solving.

“We trained hard for this,” says Olivia Hollister, an athletic training sophomore from Colorado Springs, Col. “We were exhausted during the race, but we kept each other strong.”

All teams completed a 10-kilometer march in full battle gear using orienteering skills to navigate. Cadets also crossed a rope bridge, waded through a river, treated casualties in a disaster scenario and demonstrated their skill with small-arms weapons.

BYU continued its winning tradition by beating its rivals from around the region by more than two hours. The team will go on to represent the region in the annual Sandhurst Competition in April — held at the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.

Second place went to Utah State University and third to Northern Arizona University. The 22 competing teams hail from Idaho, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming and Utah.

In addition to Hollister, the winning ROTC team members include: Jeffrey Andersen, an exercise science junior from Houston; Cooper Boice, finance senior from Carlsbad, Calif.; Dan Cox, a management senior from Round Rock, Texas; Joshua Huston, a history freshman from Yuma, Ariz.; Matthew Lisle, a history sophomore from Salem, Ore.; Kurt Meservy, a global studies junior from Corona, Calif.; Travis Meservy, a civil engineering junior from Corona, Calif.; and Bruce Richards, a geography senior from Falmouth, Maine.

“We were well prepared,” team captain Boice says. “By the time we competed, we could do almost everything by muscle memory. We'll train just as hard for the next competition.”

The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally recognized programs in accounting, business management, public management, information systems, and entrepreneurship. The school’s mission is to prepare men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the Marriott School’s graduate and undergraduate programs.