Ranger Challenge team advances to Sandhurst

The University of North Georgia's (UNG) Ranger Challenge team is returning to the Sandhurst Military Skills Competition for the first time in four years. This milestone comes after UNG's "Black" team took second place out of 43 groups at the 6th Brigade Titan Ranger Challenge event held Jan. 23-24 at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Titan Ranger Challenge included Army ROTC programs from universities and colleges in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Puerto Rico.

Ranger Challenge is the varsity sport of Army ROTC and a Corps of Cadets specialty unit at UNG, and in addition to the second-place group advancing to the May 1-2 Sandhurst competition at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, UNG's "Gold" team placed 13th.

As part of its strong overall performance, UNG also took top honors in the following events:

Black

• Functional fitness lane
• Malvesti obstacle course
• Overall movement between events
• Ruck march

Gold

• Communication lane

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University took first place at the Titan Ranger Challenge and advanced along with UNG to Sandhurst. It was also the only school outside of UNG to win more than one event, prevailing in two.

"Physically, there was not another team at Titan Ranger Challenge that matched the grit, conditioning or collective toughness of our two teams. That is not hype. That is observation," said retired Command Sgt. Maj. Joey Blacksher, senior executive advisor to the superintendent of the Cadet Leadership Academy. "To put that in perspective, Auburn University, the third-place team, was in repeated event proximity with our Gold team. Our Gold group outworked them physically throughout the competition."

Black team members included: Lex Christian Jason Cooper, Jacob Crawford (squad leader), Micah Dell, Alyssa Estes, Alex Gray (team leader), Matthew McClanahan, Daniel Ortiz, Navaeh Owen, Jake Penney (team leader), and Kaysen Reynolds.

Gold team members included: Trezontae Britton, John Carello, Keila Creus (team leader), Josiah Lee, Robert McChrystal, Johnathon Savage (team leader), Jeremiah Simmons, Deyon Smith, Elijah Williams (squad leader), and Wyatt Williams.

Estes, a sophomore from Trion, Georgia, pursuing a degree in political science with a minor in Japanese, decided during Freshman Recruit Orientation Group (FROG) Week to join Ranger Challenge.

"My goal is to be comfortable being uncomfortable. It sounded hard. It sounded scary. I wasn't sure if I would be able to keep up with people like that," Estes said. "We all strive for excellence. Being part of a unit like that greatly appealed to me."

Coach Casey Dunn leads the team, with kinesiology faculty members Dr. Parker Hyde and Dr. Gaven Barker and undergraduate student assistants Alex Wright, Stevie Lewis and Aiden DiStefano also supporting the cadet-athletes' wellness so they can have peak performance throughout the year.

Hyde said his group uses WHOOP bands for tracking daily strain and recovery for Ranger Challenge cadets and TrainingPeaks software to help manage workouts according to that information.

"We are trying to make sure these cadets embody everything about the Ranger Creed," Hyde said. "In addition to performing with excellence physically, they also need to be able to make good decisions under stress."

McClanahan, a freshman from Louisville, Kentucky, pursuing a degree in nursing, is the lone first-year cadet on UNG's top Ranger Challenge team. He is grateful to have helped the team return to Sandhurst, where it was the top ROTC program four times in a row from 2018-2022 and finished in the top four overall each of those years.

"It brings the level of respect the team deserves," McClanahan said. "We will be able to show our skills on the international stage. We've put in a lot of work for this."

Crawford, a senior from Poplar Bluff, Missouri, pursuing a degree in sociology with a minor in criminal justice, is in his fourth year as part of Ranger Challenge. As grateful as he was for the success at Titan Ranger Challenge, it also serves as catalyst for Sandhurst.

"It's really been a testament of what our coaches have been telling us. Motivation burns out, but discipline doesn't," Crawford said. "We really want to get back to the golden age of Ranger Challenge, and it's within our grasp."

Dunn said the dedication to that mission was evident with the preparations cadets made even over winter break, culminating in the strong showing at Fort Benning.

"There's a legacy at UNG of going to Sandhurst and winning the ROTC Cup," Dunn said. "And all of our team members are hungry to be that team again."