Army ROTC cadets take first and third place at Army 10-miler in Washington D.C.

BLACKSBURG, Va., Oct. 17, 2008 – Team training since last spring paid off for the two Virginia Tech Army ROTC Detachment Army 10-miler teams that traveled to Washington D.C on Oct. 5 and competed in the Army 10-miler race.

Each year tens of thousands of runners descend upon the capital to join in the event. Produced by the U.S. Army Military District of Washington and ranked as America’s largest 10-mile race, the race starts and finishes at the Pentagon, passing such national treasures as the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and the Capitol as it makes its way through the city. This year in the 24th Annual Army 10-miler there were over 18,500 runners competing. In total there were 507 overall teams and 49 of those were ROTC teams.

The Virginia Tech Army ROTC teams took first place and third place in the ROTC division and finished No. 33 and No. 41 respectively. In addition, Cadet John Steger of Springfield, Va., a junior majoring in history in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, finished with the fastest time of any cadet -- ROTC or Service Academy -- running in the race. He completed the 10-mile course in 57 minutes, 43 seconds and came in No. 74 out of 18,857 total runners.

The members of the first place team include

• Cadet John Steger of Springfield, Va., a junior majoring in history in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences;
• Cadet Mackenzie Cohe of Falls Church, Va., a senior majoring in business information technology in the Pamplin College of Business (http://www.pamplin.vt.edu);
• Cadet Gregory Walsh of Doylestown, Pa., a senior majoring in history in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences;
• Cadet Jordan Rollins of Seaford, Del., a senior majoring in history in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences;
• Cadet Scott Forsythe of Allison Park, Pa., a sophomore majoring in political science in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences; and
• Cadet Monica Tubesing of Burke, Va., a senior majoring in animal and poultry sciences in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (http://www.cals.vt.edu).

The members of the third place team include

• Cadet Nicholas Kestler of Severna Park, Md., a sophomore majoring in management in the Pamplin College of Business;
• Cadet Chase Blankenship of Winter Park, Fla., a sophomore majoring in biology in the College of Science (http://www.science.vt.edu);
• Cadet Javier Hernandez of Chula Vista, Calif., a junior majoring in hospitality and tourism management in the Pamplin College of Business;
• Cadet Devan Vaughan of Ettrick, Va., a senior majoring in political science in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences; and
• Cadet Derrick Olson of Tall Timbers, Md., a sophomore majoring in sociology in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences.

• MAJ Carrie Cox
• Executive Officer, Corps of Cadets
• 540-231-6413
• cacox@vt.edu