News Article

Cadets with the Bulldog Battalion — the Army ROTC unit for Whitworth College and Gonzaga University — aim to avenge a streak-snapping loss last year to Montana State University cadets at the Task Force Big Sky Ranger Challenge Competition next month to be hosted by the Bulldog Battalion.

This year, the annual competition among Northwest ROTC units will be held at Camp Seven Mile, located at Seven Mile State Park in Spokane, from 6 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 7. The public is welcome to cheer on the Bulldog cadets who were upset by MSU in October 2005 at the Ranger Challenge held at University of Montana in Missoula; that loss snapped the Bulldogs’ 14-year winning streak.

Also, for the first time, the teams all will be coed instead of the separate men’s and women’s competitions as had been the case in previous years.
The opening ceremony will be held at the Civilian Conservation Corps Site at Camp Seven Mile, along the Centennial Trail just west of the Spokane River and north of the Bowl and Pitcher. Nine coed teams will compete in the following seven events: Army physical fitness test, hand-grenade assault course, construction and use of a one-rope bridge, weapon disassembly and assembly, written and practical land navigation, and a 10-kilometer ruck march through the woods and along the Centennial Trail.

For more information, please contact Maj. Nik Andresky at (509) 323-6515, Sgt. 1st Class Duane Hudson at 323-6513, or Lt. Col. Alan Westfield at 323-6517 or via e-mail to westfield@gonzaga.edu