Fighting Saints Battalion ROTC teams win titles at Ranger Challenge

The Fighting Saints Battalion (FSB) needed to make some extra room in its vehicle for a couple of "guests" on its return from Fort McCoy, Wisconsin.

The battalion, made up of ROTC cadets from the College of Saint Benedict, Saint John's University and St. Cloud State University, captured the men's and women's team championships and two trophies at the annual Army ROTC Third Brigade Ranger Challenge Nov. 4-6.

In the nine-man competition, the FSB defeated teams from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (second) and the University of Kansas (third). Wheaton College and Missouri State University also competed in the class.

In the five-person women's competition, the battalion defeated teams from Wheaton (second) and Marquette University (third). Iowa State University and Missouri University of Science and Technology also competed in the class.

The victory qualifies an FSB team to participate in the Sandhurst Competition, an International military skills event in April at West Point, New York. The Sandhurst Competition does not have a separate female category, but the team that represents the FBS will include at least one female.

"The Fighting Saints won this past weekend because as individuals they are mentally and physically tough and very talented when it came to perfecting the execution of the tasks required of the different, and challenging events," said Lt. Col. Tom Sachariason, professor of military science at CSB and SJU and the commander of the ROTC unit. "The victory also came because of the commitment they made as a group to train at a punishing pace.

"I watched their preparation over the past few months and was impressed by their determination to succeed," Sachariason added. "There is a unique element that embodies the cadets in this program which has been passed down from class to class. They are intelligent, fit and extremely committed, but the cadets from the other schools are as well. The quality that puts the Fighting Saints over the top is their winning spirit."

To compete at Fort McCoy, all five teams in each category had won separate Task Force championships. The teams from the FSB won their Task Force championships Oct. 21-22 at Camp Ripley, Minnesota.

Both the FSB teams won seven of the 11 events at the Ranger Challenge over a three-day period. The nine-person men's team won the patrolling, fitness, knowledge, forced march, medical, one-rope bridge and commander's challenges. The five-person women's team won the patrolling, one-rope bridge, hand grenade, obstacle course, forced march and land navigation (day and night) and commander's challenges.

Members of the nine-person men's team were:

• Jacob Schwanz, SJU senior, biology major, Forest Lake, Minnesota (team captain);
• Teddy Erickson, SJU senior, nutrition major, Annandale, Minnesota;
• Collin Joyce, SJU senior, history and political science majors, Wichita Falls, Texas;
• Branden Schorr, SJU senior, nursing major, Mantorville, Minnesota;
• Jackson Hunzelman, SJU junior, political science, Edina, Minnesota;
• Justin Haase, SJU sophomore, environmental studies major, Jaffrey, New Hampshire;
• Marvin Heimer, SJU sophomore, mathematics major, Elkton, Minnesota;
• Dustin Lehrke, SJU sophomore, nursing major, Sisseton, South Dakota;
• Jeff DuFrene, SCSU senior, Spanish major, Owatonna, Minnesota;
• Gabriel Hance, SJU first-year, global business leadership and communication majors, Howard Lake, Minnesota (alternate).

Participants on the five-member women's team were:

• Rebecca Dykhoff, CSB junior, nursing major, Maple Grove, Minnesota (team captain);
• Mary Esker, CSB junior, nursing major, Cedar Rapids, Iowa;
• Touria Techam, CSB junior, nursing major, Brooklyn Park, Minnesota;
• Katarina Sulzle, CSB sophomore, psychology major, St. Louis Park, Minnesota;
• Natalie Shaft, SCSU senior, finance major, Sioux Falls, South Dakota;
• Sydney Sperling, CSB senior, psychology, Vadnais Heights, Minnesota (alternate).

Two members of the FSB also won individual events with high scores. Dykhoff won the knowledge challenge with the high score among both men and women. Erickson won the physical fitness challenge with the high score among men.