UCF ROTC hosts challenging physical Iron Knight Competition

The fifth annual Iron Knight Competition started off Saturday morning in true military fashion when the National Guard landed a Black Hawk helicopter on the Lake Claire field. It was an exciting start to an even more exciting day.

Lake Claire was spangled with JROTC members and other participants getting words of encouragement while stretching and warming up before beginning the four-and-a-half-mile race around Gemini Circle. Teams consisted of two divisions – Pro and Junior. Each division was broken down into three categories of all-male, all-female or coed.

Along the circle were eight courses — consisting of push-ups, a tire flip, sit-ups, pull-ups, an equipment carry, downed pilot, a blind minefield and a Humvee push — designed by the Special Forces and Airborne Ranger-qualified UCF Army ROTC instructors to test the physical and mental endurance of the competitors. The event's purpose was to put the UCF Army ROTC name out into the public with the hopes of recruiting high school JROTC members.

Dakota Scott, a junior at St. Cloud High School and JROTC member, was not nervous about the race.

"I did it last year," Scott said. "The more nervous you get, the harder it is to perform. You have to keep a clear mind and work together as a team."

Scott's coed team won third place in the Junior division with a final time of 54 minutes and four seconds. The race wasn't that difficult for him until he reached the end.

"You're right there and you can see it but you have [no adrenaline] left," Scott said.

Crystal Allen, a junior health sciences major, felt the race was more of a test.

"I feel accomplished and tired," Allen said after the race. "The hardest part was running in the sand because you're fatigued and hot and it's sand."

Allen's team finished first in the Pro all-female category with the time of 79 minutes and nine seconds. Bianca Hetzel, a senior nursing major and captain of the team, was happy with their time.

"Our team kicked butt," Hetzel said. "The key is to keep motivating each other."

The JROTC teams were perhaps the most surprising of the categories. They mostly finished with a quicker time than the older, Pro participants.

Jodie Halliday, of Ridge Community High School's JROTC program, was one of these impressive competitors. She participated in the event last year and earned first place in her category and her team did the same this year. Her team finished first in the Junior all-female category with a final time of 59 minutes and 39 seconds.

"You have to be mentally strong and block out the pain," Halliday said. "You have to stay strong as a team."

In the Pro division, David Barnhart's team placed first in the all-male category and first out of all teams, both Pro and Junior, with a final time of 50 minutes and 47 seconds. Oscar Martinez's team placed first in the coed category and completed the race in 53 minutes and 10 seconds.

In the Junior division, Zephyrhills High School placed first in the all-male category with a final time of 52 minutes and 48 seconds. Ridge Community High School won first place in the all-female category, completing the race in 59 minutes and 39 seconds. Ridge Community also finished first in the coed category with a final time of 52 minutes and two seconds.

"It's an outstanding event," said Master Sgt. Clarence Hankerson, JROTC coordinator at East River High School. "We're a new program and it gave us an opportunity to show ourselves. We finished around an hour and 21 minutes. I think they did a great job."

Maj. Tali Hillsgrove of UCF Army ROTC was excited about the turn out.

"We had 60 teams show up," Hillsgrove said. "There was only supposed to be about 40, but some people just showed up and we didn't want to turn them down. Recruiting is also going well. I'm getting thousands of questions."

The event ended when the attendees surrounded the Black Hawk helicopter after receiving medals and trophies. The National Guard entered the chopper's cockpit, and bystanders watched it take off and disappear into the afternoon sky.