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East Surry champion of local Raider Challenge
Monday, March 4, 2013
The East Surry Varsity team from Pilot Mountain, N.C., was the overall champion at the Magna Vista Virginia West Region Raider Challenge Saturday.
The JROTC event took place at Lee Ford Camp and featured 27 competing teams from high schools in Virginia and North Carolina.
Courtland Varsity from Lee Hill, Va., was runner-up, William Hough from Cornelius, N.C., came in third place, Magna Vista JV1 placed fifth, Magna Vista JV2 placed 18th, Bassett placed 20th and Tunstall placed 23rd.
The competition had three events and a 5K (3-mile run). The events and local teams’ finishes were:
• In physical training, Magna Vista JV1 came in eighth, Bassett 14th, Magna Vista JV2 20th and Tunstall 25th.
• In the litter obstacle, Magna Vista JV1 came in fourth, Magna Vista JV214th, Bassett 20th and Tunstall 22nd.
• In the logistic relay, Magna Vista JV1 came in ninth, Tunstall 17th, Magna Vista JV2 23rd and Bassett 26th.
• In the rope bridge challenge, Magna Vista JV1 came in first place, Magna Vista JV2 fifth, Tunstall 16th and Bassett 18th.
• In the 5K, Magna Vista JV1 came in sixth, Bassett 16th, Magna Vista JV2 24th and Tunstall 26th.
More than 240 students competed. They came from schools locally, from northern and eastern Virginia and from North Carolina, according to Sgt. 1st Class John Truini, the JROTC/wrestling coach at Magna Vista.
Schools from Virginia fielding teams included Magna Vista, Bassett, Carroll County, Courtland, Dan River, Fishburne, Franklin County, Hayfield, Lake Braddock, Orange, Petersburg, Powhatan, Spotsylvania and Tunstall. Schools from North Carolina fielded teams included East Surry, Heidi Trask, Morehead, R.B. Glenn and William Hough.
According to online information, a Raider Challenge consists of mentally and physically challenging activities and leadership.
There are nine team members. Eight members compete in each event, so a team captain picks who he wants to compete at each event.
Saturday’s event started around 8 a.m. with a physical fitness test at the Magna Vista football stadium. The test included two minutes of pushups, two minutes of sit-ups and a one-mile run.
From about 9:30 a.m. to about 2:30 p.m., teams participated in four events at Lee Ford Camp:
• One-rope bridge — A team had to cross a gap of about 50 inches with a single rope approximately 100 feet long. Each team member had to tie a swiss seat (climbing harness) out of a 14-foot rope with an attached carabiner (snap link). This seat is used in military rappelling. Then a one-rope bridge is constructed by tying off each end to two trees approximately 50 feet apart. Once constructed, each member had to cross the rope by clipping the carabiner into the rope, hanging upside down and pulling himself/herself across. Once all the members had crossed, the team took down the rope bridge.
• Little obstacle course — Each team was assigned to safely carry a litter (stretcher) with a simulated injured or killed person on it weighing about 160 pounds through an obstacle course. Obstacles included going over a fallen tree, crawling under a low obstacle while dragging the litter and lifting the litter over an overhead obstacle. The course was about 80 to 100 yards in all over rough terrain with valleys and small rises.
• Logistic relay — Each team was stationed at predetermined points. Each team had a relay device weighing about 60 pounds that had to be passed from one team to another.
• 5K (three-mile) run.
All of the events were timed. The team with the best time for each event was the winner. The team that performed the best for all the events was the winner.
There also were team and individual awards, including for the male and female who did the most push-ups, sit-ups and ran the fastest mile and the male and female who performed best overall.
The Magna Vista JROTC has been hosting the event for the past five years. It started with nine teams and has grown to 27 this year, with teams on a waiting list.
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