Army ROTC cadets take first place for second consecutive year at Army 10-miler

Members of the Virginia Tech Army 10-miler teams with the commanding general of the U.S. Army Cadet Command, Maj. Gen. Arthur Bartell

BLACKSBURG, Va., Oct. 23, 2009 – For the second year in a row, the Virginia Tech Army ROTC unit took first place in the ROTC division of the Army 10-miler race held in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, Oct. 3.

Their second team also finished in the top ten with a strong eighth place finish. The teams have been preparing since last spring, meeting every weekday morning at 5:30 a.m. to train. The Army ROTC unit at Virginia Tech is the largest ROTC component of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets.

Running among a record 30,000 people from around the world, members of the first place Virginia Tech team beat out a team from the University of Connecticut, finishing the course with a collective time of four hours, 14 minutes, 38 seconds. Though Virginia Tech had eight members on the squad, only the top four times count toward the team’s overall time.

Each year tens of thousands of runners descend upon Washington, D.C. to join in this prestigious 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 and the course crosses the Potomac River, running along the National Mall to loop around the U.S. Capitol building, forming a 10-mile circuit. This year the 25th annual Army 10-miler had over 21,200 finishers, 502 overall teams, and 56 ROTC teams competing.

The Virginia Tech Army ROTC teams’ first and eighth place finishes put them in 34th and 62nd places respectively out of the 502 total teams competing. In addition, The Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Regimental Commander, Cadet John Steger of Springfield, Va., a senior majoring in history in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, finished with the second fastest time of any cadet running in the race. He completed the 10-mile course in 57 minutes, 35 seconds and coming in 89th place out of 21,256 total finishers. This is the second year in a row that Steger has led the way as he finished in first place of all cadet runners last year.

The members of the first place team include

• Cadet John Steger of Springfield, Va., a senior majoring in history in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences who is serving as the Regimental Commander and is an Emerging Leader Scholarship recipient;
• Cadet Neale Wetherall of Knoxville, Va., a sophomore majoring in history in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences who is serving as the Bravo Company Chaplain and is an Emerging Leader Scholarship recipient;
• Cadet Nicholas Kestler of Severna Park, Md., a junior majoring in management in the Pamplin College of Business who is serving as the India Company First Sergeant and is an Emerging Leader Scholarship recipient;
• Cadet Chris Livingston of Oceanside, Calif., a sophomore majoring in human nutrition, foods, and exercise in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences who is serving as a Bravo Company fire team leader and is an Emerging Leader Scholarship recipient;
• Cadet Greg Desrosiers of Watertown, Conn., a senior majoring in civil engineering in the College of Engineering who is serving as an Alpha Company platoon leader;
• Cadet Chase Blankenship of Winter Park, Fla., a junior majoring in history in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences who is serving as a Foxtrot Company cadre sergeant and is an Emerging Leader Scholarship recipient;
• Cadet Scott Forsythe of Germantown, Md., a junior majoring in political science in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences who is serving as the Delta Company First Sergeant, was recognized as the top performing cadre member for New Cadet training this year, and is an Emerging Leader Scholarship recipient; and
• Cadet Ashley Shepherd of Newport News, Va., a senior majoring in political science and spanish in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences who is serving as the Golf Company Commander and is an Emerging Leader Scholarship recipient.

The members of the eighth place team include

• Cadet John Gray of Norfolk, Va., a junior majoring in psychology in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences who is serving as a Hotel Company squad leader and is an Emerging Leader Scholarship and Commandant’s Scholarship recipient;
• Cadet Steven Higgs of Luray, Va., a sophomore majoring in human nutrition, foods, and exercise in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences who is serving as the 1st Battalion Medical Assistant and is an Emerging Leader Scholarship recipient;
• Cadet Travis Taggart of Montpelier, Va., a senior majoring in political science in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences who is serving as the Band Company Commander and is an Emerging Leader Scholarship recipient;
• Cadet Sean Barnhart of Pittsburg, Va., a senior majoring in history in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences who is an Emerging Leader Scholarship recipient; and
• Cadet Heather Bates of Springfield, Va., a junior majoring in psychology in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences who is serving as a Hotel Company Cadre Sergeant and is an Emerging Leader Scholarship recipient.

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