Sandhurst 2016, the 49th iteration of West Point’s annual military skills competition, was grueling in every aspect of the word. Sixty-one 9-person teams—comprised of USMA’s cadet companies, ROTC’s eight brigades, squads from three sister academics, and 12 international teams—endured a brutal route (totaling 30.8 miles), demanding challenges (including, for the first time ever, two night events), and cold and blustery weather (barely pushing 40-degrees Fahrenheit with winds blowing more than 20 MPH at times) over the course of two days at West Point. Given those conditions, it is perhaps not surprising that West Point’s neighbor to the north, the Royal Military College of Canada, won Sandhurst 2016, marking the fifth time it took home the Reginald E. Johnson Memorial Plaque (a mounted cadet sabre) as the competition’s highest scoring squad (2005-07, ’09). For the fourth year in a row, H-3 earned the 1st Place USCC Streamer as the highest scoring cadet company, and 4th Regiment dethroned 2nd Regiment and won the Sandhurst Sword as the regiment with the best aggregate company performance in the competition. The sword was originally presented to USMA by the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst (UK) in 1967 to be a prize for a regimental military stakes competition, the aim of which was to promote military excellence among the Corps of Cadets. At first, West Point’s Sandhurst Competition was just a mix of physical fitness tests, varsity and intramural sports, and drill and ceremony performed over the course of an academic term; however, in 1975, Major Robert Hodges, the British exchange officer assigned to West Point at the time, worked with the Commandant to re-format the competition to test the cadets’ ability to “shoot, move and communicate” as a team. The competition was moved to Camp Buckner and took place over the course of 20 days in April. Beginning in 1992, the competition was reduced to two days and opened to ROTC squads, and two teams from the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst began participating a year later, one of which won the event for ten years straight. In 2011, USCC Company B-3 became the one and only USMA squad to win the competition since international competition began, a fact that West Point fans hope will change next year with the 50th anniversary of Sandhurst.
Canada Claims Sandhurst 2016 Crown
↧
↧
Softball Caps Bucknell Series with Win
LEWISBURG, PA - A big seventh inning by the Army West Point softball team helped the Black Knights secure the series over Patriot League foe Bucknell Monday afternoon. The Cadets scored three runs in their final at-bat against the Bison to secure a 5-1 victory and to win the series 2-1. "Away from the scoreboard, what our team did well this weekend was be coachable players and exercise a team-first attitude," said head coach Michelle DePolo. "They followed our guidance and fulfilled any role asked of each player. Our defense had an exceptional series. They are as steady as it gets, and in the event of a misplay they recover immediately." Holding a slim 2-1 lead after five innings, Army found a spark in the top of the seventh to put the game away. Ashley Yoo reached on a walk to start off the inning. Then, Kasey McCravey was intentionally walked which brought her career total to 70 which breaks the career record mark which has been held by Erin McClain (69) since 2010. Read More
↧
Black Knights Claim Four Weeky Awards
WEST POINT, NY - Following a 15-4 win over Boston University on Saturday, the Army West Point men's lacrosse team nearly swept all Patriot League weekly honors. Nate Jones was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week and the Rookie of the Week after his five-goal performance against the Terriers. Classmate AJ Barretto took home his first weekly award as he was voted the conference's Goalie of the Week. Rounding out the award winners was senior Austin Schultz, who earned Defensive Player of the Week.
It was the first time this season that a team has won four lacrosse weekly awards for the Patriot League and four out of the five were rookies. Bucknell's Jarett Witzal won the Faceoff Specialist of the Week award. Jones led Army on Saturday to help clinch a spot in the Patriot League Tournament. He finished with a career high five goals, including a natural hat trick in the first half. He scored three of the first nine goals scored by the Black Knights to open the game. He added two more tallies in the second half to push his total to five. Jones has at least a hat trick in six of Army's 10 games in 2016, including four with three or more goals. He also picked up two ground balls and caused a turnover. Read More
↧
Martin Named Rookie of the Week
CENTER PARK, PA - Trey Martin of the Army West Point baseball team was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week on Tuesday. Martin went 7-for-18 with two runs scored and five RBIs. The London, KY, native notched a hit and an RBI in all five games last week, including a three-hit effort in Saturday's night cap against Bucknell. He also stole a couple of bases in the contest. Read More
↧
Borer Tabbed AAA Athlete of the Week
WEST POINT, NY - Senior Andrew Borer of the Army West Point men's rugby team scored a program-record 30 points on three tries, penalty kicks and conversions in the team's 55-10 victory over Oklahoma in the Penn Mutual Varsity Cup on Saturday. In the team's first-ever Varsity Cup win, Borer opened the game by scoring the first 13 points in 10 minutes. Click here for the video. The Alta Loma, Calif., native continued his scoring to begin the second half, once against starting with a penalty kick. After a try and conversion in the 47th minute, he scored the first 10 points of the final 40 minutes as well. Read More
↧
↧
Golf Third, Sakata Named to All-Tournament Team
SPARTANBURG, SC - After shooting five-under the final round of the Wofford Invitational, the Army West Point golf team placed moved up to third place with 855 strokes. Dean Sakata led the Black Knights with a seven-under score of 209 to place t-4th. He was one of five golfers name to the All-Tournament Team. "The team was resilient today," said head coach Brian Watts. "The hole locations and weather conditions made the course play more difficult, but the team stayed patient. They played a great round of golf today as we had some bogeys early on, but they fought back and grinded it out. We are always working on staying calm and making good decisions and their patience was a good sign of maturity on the course. Dean was able to finish two-under today and seven-under for the tournament." Read More
↧
Eight Gymnasts Head to NCAA Championships
WEST PONT, NY - The Army West Point gymnastics team has a date this weekend in Columbus, Ohio, for the NCAA Championships where the Black Knights will be looking to crown a champion or two along with cop All-America honors. Army will be competing individually at the two-day meet inside St. John Arena hosted by Ohio State on Friday, April 15th and Saturday, April 16th. The meet opens with two qualifying rounds on Friday with the team finals, all-around winner and individual event finals decided on Saturday. The Black Knights will compete in the Session 1 Championship Qualifier on Friday at 1 p.m. which features No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 4 California, No. 5 Minnesota, No. 8 Penn State, No. 9 Nebraska and No. 12 Navy. Read More
↧
Barretto Earns National Accolades
WEST POINT, NY - Rookie AJ Barretto made eight saves in the 15-4 win over Boston University last Saturday and was named the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA)/Lids National Defensive Player of the Week. Barretto was also selected as the Patriot League's Goalie of the Week on Monday. He was joined by Nate Jones and Austin Schultz as weekly award winners. Barretto won his seventh game of the season with eight saves in 55 minutes of action against Boston University. The four goals allowed in the game were a season low for the rookie when playing significant minutes in the game. Barretto held the Terriers scoreless for 29 of the first 30 minutes, allowing the Black Knights to jump out to a 9-0 lead. Read More
↧
Three Teams Earn Public Recognition Awards
WEST POINT, NY - Three Army West Point athletic teams were rewarded by the NCAA for their outstanding performance in the classroom after earning Public Recognition Awards from the governing body. Football, wrestling and rifle were among 1,071 teams that were publicly recognized for their academic achievement. It was based on their most recent Academic Progress Rate. The APR is an annual scorecard of academic achievement calculated for all Division I sports teams nationally. The 1,071 teams publicly recognized for high achievement include 649 women's teams and 422 men's or mixed squads. This year, schools combined the indoor and outdoor track and field teams into one team score, which slightly reduced the overall number of teams earning Public Recognition Awards. Read More
↧
↧
Glee Club Travel to Buffalo to Perform
54 cadets from the USMA Glee Club travelled to Buffalo, NY, for three performances, spanning over a three day period. On 3 April, fifteen of the cadets from the USMA Glee Club performed two national anthems to kick off a head-to-head match between the Buffalo Sabres and the Toronto Maple Leafs. The cadets performed “O Canada” and the “Star Spangled Banner” in front of more than 18,000 U.S. and Canadian fans, representing the Academy with grace and conviction. The following day, the cadets performed a concert for local, school-aged children in the town of Lockport, NY. More than 200 children ages 6-18 attended the concert which was put on by the Historic Palace Theatre and City of Lockport. After the concert, the cadets spent time interacting with the children that attended the concert. The following night, the Glee Club gave its final concert of the trip, again at the Historic Palace Theatre. The concert sold-out to complete capacity, with more than 1,100 patrons attending the concert. Following the concert, the cadets again spent time interacting with and thanking those who attended the concert and made it such a huge success.
↧
Cadets Prep for the Amateur Radio Clubs License Test
Cadets from the West Point Cadet Amateur Radio Club prepare for their first amateur radio license test preparation study session in the Jefferson Hall Library on Tuesday, 29 March. Eight Cadets, two of whom will be commissioning as Signal Corps officers this May, and four faculty members attended the first of a four-part series of study sessions to prepare them to take the amateur radio license exam at the end of April. CPT Matthew Sherburne is leading the study sessions with hands-on exercises, slides, and discussions on RF propagation theory, FCC rules and procedures, and basic electronics.
↧
Club Soccer and Coast Guard Tie
Club Soccer warmed up for their annual Army/Navy clash with a hard fought tie with the US Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT. Army fought back from a 2-0 half-time deficit and in a second half reduced to just thirty minutes, scored from a penalty kick via CDT Newton Tsang. Army continued to dominate possession and with five minutes remaining on the clock, CDT Franklin Pugh leveled the scores. The superior fitness of Army shone through in the final minutes, but the Coast Guard held on for the 2-2 tie. This was valuable preparation for the Army/Navy club soccer match scheduled for 0900 on Saturday, 23 April to be held at the USMAPS soccer field. The Navy Soccer Club is currently holding the Joseph Casey Cup awarded to the winners of the annual fixture with our traditional rivals. Mr. Casey (Army all-time leading goal scorer) will be in attendance to present the trophy awarded in his honor.
↧
Teaching Practicum hosts Dr. Morten
The Department of English and Philosophy hosted its final Teaching Practicum of the semester. Dr. Morton Ender from the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership hosted a discussion centered on his new book, The Millennial Generation and National Defense: Attitudes of Future Military and Civilian Leaders. While Op-eds about the millennial generation and evolving educational practices abound in major media publications, Dr. Ender offered analysis from diligently compiled longitudinal data that contextualizes generational attitudes beyond mere anecdotes. The discussion focused on sociological trends across generations in pursuit of continually challenging and improving the way we connect with this generation of students.
↧
↧
UCONN’s 11th Annual Conf on the Teaching of Writing
Two USMA Writing Fellows visited the University of Connecticut’s Writing Center and presented papers at UCONN’s 11th Annual Conference on the Teaching of Writing. Their panel, “Adapting and Modeling: Making Room for New Approaches and New Publics in the Writing Center,” drew on their experiences teaching in the Mounger Writing Center. In “Adaptive Tutoring: Cultivating Sincerity and Community in Writing Center Consultations,” CDT Tim McLaughlin ’17 articulated a pragmatic approach to peer consulting that balances the canonical approaches in the field (“minimalist tutoring” and “holistic tutoring”) with the development of a communal ethos. In “The ‘Native-Speaker’ Myth: Language Acquisition and Writing Pedagogy,” Nathan Hernandez ’17 referenced his experiences teaching English in Taiwan to argue that we should view language acquisition as a fluid process for both non-native and native writers, expanding the use of certain ESL pedagogies to also help other students enhance their command of the language. The Cadets’ panel was chaired by Dr. Jason Hoppe and assisted by CPT Kristen Johnson.
↧
Scuba NAUI Open Water Certification trip
The USMA Scuba team conducted AY15-16’s third NAUI Open Water Certification trip to Dutch Springs, PA. This trip section included twenty-five students, and sixteen team members. The twenty-five students conducted their requisite open water dives, and four advanced students conducted their required advanced open water dives.
↧
Cadets at the Rochester Symposium Physics Students
Six Cadets along with MAJ Will Cook spent 1-3 April traveling to Rochester, NY to attend the Rochester Symposium for Physics Students. Cadets Kris Korzan and Abi Daniel presented their work on setting up the observatory. Cadets Oliver Di Nallo, Sam Jung, and Alix Idrache presented their work on neutron detection and collisions. Cadet Bobby Nelson presented his research in quantum chemistry and the harmonic vibrational frequencies.
↧
Athletic Director's Update
Click the Cover to read the entire update.
↧
↧
Glenn Wins Nissen-Emery Award
COLUMBUS, OH - Senior Jesse Glenn of the Army West Point gymnastics team was named the 2016 recipient of the prestigious Nissen-Emery award Thursday evening at the College Gymnastics Association (CGA) Awards Banquet being held at the Boat House at Confluence Park in Columbus, Ohio, the site for this year's NCAA Championships. Click here to watch the video. Glenn is the first of seven Black Knight finalists to win this honor since it was established in 1966. The Nissen-Emery Award is given annually to the nation's outstanding senior gymnast and is the most coveted award in collegiate gymnastics. The award is presented annually to an outstanding senior collegiate gymnast based on gymnastic achievement, sportsmanship and academic excellence. Read More
↧
Women’s Tennis Wins 5-2, Peck with 400th Career Win
BETHLEHEM, PA - The Army West Point women's tennis team finished the regular season in historic fashion on Friday evening. The Black Knights topped Lehigh 5-2 to give head coach Paul Peck his 400th career win. He is only the second coach in Academy history, across all sports, to reach 400 wins at the school. His record now stands at 400-197 over 22 seasons. Army finishes the regular season at 19-5 overall and 5-1 in the Patriot League. The four-year class of Haley O'Connor, Carolyn Pitman, Gabriella Spindler, and Eva Sung are one victory shy of becoming the eighth straight four-year class to reach 80 career victories (79-27). Lehigh now stands at 8-8 and 3-4 in league play. The Black Knights had to rally for the victory after losing the doubles point and wound up down 2-1 after the first and fifth singles finished. Army swept the remaining four singles matches to claim the win. Full Story»
↧
Cadet Warnberg 1 of 10 Champions for Change
Congratulations to Cadet Carson Warnberg for being one of ten individuals selected by the The White House as “Champions of Change” for their leadership in mobilizing others to change the culture around sexual assault and dating violence and to create systemic changes on their campuses and beyond. Cadet Warnberg currently serves as the Education Officer for the Cadets Against Sexual Harassment Program (CASHA). Story
↧
More Pages to Explore .....
