After Action Reports
7 – 14 Sept 2009
Triathlon Team
Warren VT
During Labor Day weekend, 19 cadets and four ORs from the West Point Triathlon Team traveled to Warren, Vermont to hold a training camp for the upcoming season. The purpose of the camp was to teach cadets how to train at an elite athlete level to include swim, bike, and run techniques, preventative core strength and stretching routines, nutrition, and equipment maintenance.
In addition to Coach DeBoom, former pro cyclist Paraic McGlynn and Yoga Instructor Ali Ramirez volunteered their time to offer their expertise. During the weekend the team swam over 10,000 yards, biked up the category 1 "App Gap Climb," and ran approximate twelve miles in two and a half days.
In addition, the trip and the beautiful location gave the cadets the opportunity to bond as a team and set their goals for the upcoming season. The fall season begins with the Commander-In-Chief Triathlon Championship this upcoming weekend in Washington DC. Special thanks to Mr. Kim Campbell, Class of 1976, for allowing the team to use his house at no cost.
Hicky Run St Park PA
This Orienteering Trip Section was unique in comparison to the remaining meets later in the semester. The focus was training. Cadets spent the first day divided into two groups: intermediate and advanced. They spent the entire day honing their navigation skills using their compass, pace count, contour lines, and their maps. The Delaware Valley Orienteering Association was responsible for the training, and they included several mini courses to test the cadets’ knowledge of orienteering. The first day culminated with a day sprint course and a night orienteering course. On the final day of the meet, cadets ran their respective course ranging in difficulty from intermediate to advanced. Overall the trip was a success, the cadets had the opportunity to learn from very experienced orienteers (members of the US National team), the chance to test their knowledge of orienteering, and prepare themselves for their next meet and eventually Nationals.
Sailing Team
Annapolis MD
The West Point Sailing Team completed the grueling Labor Day Clinic at Annapolis with former Georgetown Sailing Coach and USMA Class of '79 alum Greg Jordan. After two intense days of classroom and on-the-water instruction, the cadets pitted themselves against two former Navy All-Stars and the clinic coach on the final day. The cadet teams were led by skippers Alex Lovo '11 and Erik Olson '10. Also on the final day, the Big Boat team trained on Navy 44's with the Naval Academy spinnaker coach. They learned invaluable skills that will boost them over the top of Navy at this year's Shields Trophy in Annapolis. The entire team, including the coaching staff, took away vast amounts of knowledge and are prepared to continue their competitive racing season for 2009.
Triathlon Team
Washington DC
On 13 September 2009, The "Tri Team" traveled to Washington DC to open their season at the Nation's Triathlon. All thirteen new team members completed their first ever Olympic Distance Triathlon consisting of a 1500 meter swim, 40km bike, and a 10km run.
Alex Habecker, F2, established himself at the first rookie finisher, and MacKenzie Vaughn blistering run split set the pace for the new female team members. The team veterans displayed excellent early season form. Out of 5,000 participants, Rob Sherry finished 19th overall, with Bryan Lagasse (20th) and Andy Stock (21st) right behind him. The majority of the team, notability Romedy Murr and Brittany Fraser, set personal records for the olympic distance.
The Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard triathlon teams also raced, giving West Point insight to have they stacked up against the other academies. Although no team awards were given, Navy looked tough, demonstrating that Army and Navy will be in another dogfight at National Championships this spring. The team will next race at the Westchester Triathlon in Rye, NY on 27 SEPT.
Rugby Team
Bronx NY
West Point 28, Fordham 5 13 September 2009 Fordham University, Bronx, NY Try Scorers: Logan Goldstein (2), Kyle Palmer Conversion: Kyle Palmer (2) Penalty Kicks: Kyle Palmer (3) Match Notes: In the team’s first match of the game, West Points B side came out strong scoring 28 points on Fordham’s home pitch while only allowing a single try scored against. The 28-5 win was achieved by some hard brute work from the forwards and some well run lines put together by the backs. Logan Goldstein lead West Point with two tries while Kyle Palmer had one of his own. In addition, flyhalf Kyle Palmer had two conversions and added three penalty kicks. Next Match: West Point v. Merchant Marine Academy, 20 SEP, 2009, 1200 KO. West Point entered the weekend with a chance to start off 1-0 for the season and at the expense of Fordham, took full advantage of the opportunity. The Army Ruggers traveled south into the Bronx to compete on the hot pitch in the center of the Fordham campus and came away with a decisive 28-5 victory. Fordham came out strong early, running multiple support lines and driving the ball forward close to the breakdown. Army’s defense held strong, and along with a few penalties by Fordham stopped the aggressive early drives. On the offensive side Army had trouble getting phase play started. With many penalties in the scrum and breakdown Army didn’t get the chance to put together an attack until well into the first half. Even then Army had difficulties evolving from one pass rugby, but drove the ball down to the opposing 22 and was granted a penalty where Kyle Palmer took advantage and successfully sailed the ball between the posts for three points. Army scored next on another penalty just outside Fordham’s 22 and the first half came to a close. Army came out strong the second half and began to put up points. Logan Goldstein blocked a kick deep in Fordham territory and recovered the ball easily putting it down for a try. Goldstein was again next to score after some fancy pick work from the Army forwards. Kyle Palmer converted on both of these tries, and scored the next try after taking the ball hard through the line after West Point number 9, Trevor Mitchell, passed it from the scrum. Fordham then drove down into Army territory and used their forwards to hammer in a try against West Point, scoring their only points of the match. Palmer converted a penalty kick for the final score of the game, and Army walked away with a 28-5 victory. Up next for the Black Knights of West Point is the Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point and promises to be an exciting match to watch.
Climbing
Trip to: New Paltz NY
The climbing team departed from CGR on a crisp Sunday morning prepared to tackle the long day of routes ahead. Arriving early so as to beat the mobs of incoming climbers, the team quickly set to work and commandeered a significant portion of the West Trapps, securing over 10 routes of varying difficulty. The purpose of the trip was to practice the techniques learned earlier in the week in regards to making anchors and building top ropes, as well as provide the team with a much needed re-introduction to real quality rock to climb on and an endurance-oriented training day. Once the routes were set, the team got straight to work, and set to meeting the goal of completing 7+ routes each by the end of the day. Fortunately, the combination of excellent weather and our early preparations provided the team with the necessary setting to well-surpass the days goals, and many members of the team were well-within doubling the number of routes assigned. Towards the end of the day, the team began to focus more towards stretching the limits of their technique and strength and worked on red-pointing some of the more difficult routes in the area. At the end of the day, scraped, bruised, tired, and raw, the team headed back to its rockbound highland home a job well done.
