The Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps Unit at RPI (NROTCU RPI) recently participated in the Military Excellence Competition (MEC) held at Cornell University. Forty midshipmen (MIDN), headed by MIDN 3/C Madden, participated in a number of events ranging from drill (pictured) to Ironman. MIDN Nelson, majoring in nuclear engineering, said, “The MEC was a lot of fun; I had a great time competing against other schools.”
NROTCU RPI fielded three color guard teams, three drill squads, one swim team, two Ironman teams, one 10k team, and one 4×400 team, all together winning five trophies for the unit.
The 10k team, consisting of Midshipmen Kunz, Williams, Nichols, and Rosa, placed first. The 4×400 team, consisting of Midshipmen Kunz, Nichols, Harris, and McEneaney, placed second, only three seconds behind the winning time. The swim team, consisting of Midshipmen Nelson, Lovejoy, Venden, and McEneaney, placed third in the 400-yard freestyle relay. For the drill squad, Squad Alpha, consisting of Midshipmen Locker, Traver, Burgard, Brice, Ofer, and Madden, placed seventh. MIDN McEneaney placed second in the 50-yard individual freestyle swim. MIDN Kunz placed second overall in the 10k. The Ironman teams also performed strongly at the MEC.
MIDN Jones, majoring in electrical engineering, said, “The MEC was a great experience. It was great to see what all our hard work lead up to. I personally really enjoyed watching the trick drill teams and meeting other people from different units.”
Midshipman Amy Nelson, Midshipman Samantha Jones, Midshipman William Preuit, and Midshipman Boy contributed to this story.