The Bus Ride

Departure was at 4:30 a.m. With the early morning wake up, there were a handful of sleeping cadets. Others conversated or listened to music and gathered their focus for the long day ahead.

Stretches

Once arriving in Terre Haute, the cadets filed off the bus, marched to the tent, dropped their gear and started doing stretch workouts in formation.

5K

Eight cadets, 3.1 miles, and an outstanding time of 25.36. The team leader, Kallie Canfield ran while carrying a flag to signify where their team began and where it ended. This 5k wasn’t ran for individual times. It was ran as a team. 

Throughout the run, Elkhart Central sophomore, Forrest Ludwick ran with the guide that represented our Alpha Raider team. “Motivating the other cadets was hard at first,” Ludwick said. “it’s a hard course and we all had to stick together.”

Whenever a teammate started to get tired, the other cadets would push them to keep their confidence even if they were working out of their comfort zone, encouraging them to keep going. 

Rope Bridge

For the rope bridge part of the competition, each cadet was required to get across the rope without touching the ground. Junior John Whitmer helped the other cadets onto the rope and then proceeded to go across the rope on his own.

“The hardest part was screwing the safety lock on the clip. With the safety gloves, we had to focus on doing the right things at the right time,” Whitmer said. 

On average, this event took teams three minutes to complete; it took our Raiders a grand time of 1.42!

Personal Fitness Test

Each cadet competed in their own Personal Fitness Testing (PFT) which included a 1 ½ mile run, pushups, and sit-ups. This is the event that determined the MVP for females and males.

“They [the other cadets] are amazing, each and everyone of them works hard too and them cheering me on gives me more confidence and motivation,” Canfield said.

Obstacle Course

The last event for the Alpha Raider team was a Marines style obstacle course.

First, they took on the challenge of the gauntlet machine which is machine that holds back their arms, slowing down their momentum while they try to run. Then the team bear crawled on the ground avoiding strips of caution tape.

After the bear crawl, the cadets sprinted for the 200 lb, one-man sled push. After crossing the line, they they then sprinted for the 250 lb. litter portion of the course, hauling a stretcher for 50 yards without dropping it.  

Their finishing time for the obstacle course was 1.28.

At this point, the cadets were tired for the last event, but they pushed their hardest like it was their first event.

“We found the best way to line our team members up so that we could tackle each section of the course as quickly as possible,” said junior Reese Morehead.

Awards

As everyone stood in formation, names were first called off for male and female MVP. Kallie Canfield earned first place out of 25 girls.

The Alpha Raider team brought home an outstanding third-place finish out of 13 teams.

“I’m very excited and proud of our team and what we did today,” said Sergeant Scott Rutledge.

Overall, the Alpha Raider JROTC team did a sensational job at their first meet of the season.

Their next meet is April 27, at Marion High School in Marion, Indiana. Wish our Raiders best of luck for the tough competition ahead!