GWU Army ROTC and Campus Recreation Sponsor Hybrid Challenge

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.—The Gardner-Webb University Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) and Campus Recreation are looking for the fastest and strongest athletes to complete in the second annual Hybrid Challenge. Proceeds from the event on March 28 at 8:30 a.m. in Spangler Stadium will benefit the veterans at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Asheville, N.C.

Participants will have 15 minutes to run their fastest mile and perform a max-effort deadlift. Scoring is a combination of the run time and number of pounds lifted. Individuals may also compete as a team, where one person runs and the other lifts. In case of rain, the challenge will move into the Paul Porter Arena inside the Lutz-Yelton Convocation Center.

Cadet Lareshia “Larri” Robinson, a senior nursing major from Hendersonville, N.C., is coordinating the competition this year. She said her preparation for the Hybrid Challenge includes regular participation in the ROTC Physical Training (PT) sessions, led by Capt. Michael Meissner, director of the Army ROTC and senior military science instructor.

Among the 12 schools in the 49er Battalion, GWU has a reputation for having the most strenuous PT sessions, exceptional character and academic achievements, she noted. Meissner recently changed the PT sessions, because the Army PT test has been revised. “Our workouts are changing to a CrossFit-style to prepare for the new test,” Robinson shared. “The new PT test still has a 2-mile run, but it also has a deadlift and other events.”