Photo By D. Keith Johnson | U.S. Army 1st Lt. Christopher Parks crosses the finish line at the cycling event of...... read more read more
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By U.S. Army Reserve Master Sgt. D. Keith Johnson
316th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) PAO
WEST POINT, N.Y. (June 18, 2016) – Team Army Cycling took 23 medals at the cycling competition at the 2016 Department of Defense Warrior Games held at the U.S. Army Military Academy at West Point, New York, June 18.
“I was pretty confident that we would have a pretty decisive over all victory, but I wasn’t prepared for that much,” said Si Wilson, the head cycling coach. “Every class we had a rider in we earned a medal.”
Team Army Cycling had one of the largest teams of Army athletes. Twenty seven athletes competed in five categories: men and women’s bicycle open, hand cycle, recumbent cycle, bicycle physical disability and tandem visually impaired. Each service was limited to four cyclists per event. Courses varied from 10-30 kilometers, based on the category. Athletes were slotted into each category based on their wound, illness or injury.
U.S. Army Veteran Sgt. Ryan Major, from Baltimore, Maryland, took the bronze medal in the hand cycle event. It was his first Warrior Games.
“I love anything fast spaced with lots of speed, and the cycle has lots of speed,” he said. “Now that I have experienced winning, I plan on focusing on my training to improve.”
U.S. Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Zedrick Pitts won the bronze medal for his event. He earned the gold medal at the 2015 Warrior Games.
“I competed in a higher classification,” Pitts said. “The doctors wanted to see how far I could push the limits of my illness, and I pulled a Bronze.”
Pitts described his competitors from the higher classification.
“I was the only Army guy against three SOCOM guys,” he explained. “There were two other service riders; one Marine and one Air Force. I kinda had to use them as armor against the ‘three-headed hydra’ that was SOCOM.”
U.S. Army Veteran Cpl. Mathew Mueller won the gold medal for the tandem, visually impaired category. The front rider is the pilot and the rear rider is the ‘stoker’ that drives the cycle. Mueller also won gold medals in track and swimming.
“The games are a great thing,” he said. “They gave me a sense of identity, of belonging to a team again.”
U.S. Army Reserve Veteran Megan Grudzinski competed for the first time at the 2016 Warrior Games and won three gold medals in track.
“I haven’t ridden since I was a pre-teen,” she said. “But, I felt really good.”
U.S. Army Veteran Sgt. 1st Class Katie Kuiper, from San Antonio, Texas, won the gold medal for her event. This was her third year participating in the Warrior Games, and will probably be her last as a competitor. The DoD has implemented a rule allowing an athlete to compete for only two years.
She has words of wisdom for those interested in cycling in the Warrior Games. “Don’t be intimidated. Gain as much experience as possible.”
Wilson has high hopes for the 2017 cycling team since more than half of the first time riders won medals. “We have some athletes to further develop and I’m pretty sure we’ll come in strong in 2017.”
| Date Taken: | 06.18.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 06.23.2016 00:04 |
| Story ID: | 202186 |
| Location: | WEST POINT, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 108 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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