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2 more teams booted as event enters 3rd day

Fort Benning, Ga. — All but two of the 26 teams that headed into the woods Saturday night to complete the brutal land navigation course made it to the final day of the Best Ranger Competition.

The 10-hour test in which competitors, wearing their 50-pound rucksacks, had to find 33 points across an area of approximately 15 square miles eliminated Staff Sgt. Mitchell Tisserand and Capt. Aaron Chonko, a team from 5th Ranger Training Battalion, and Sgt. 1st Class Cedric King and Staff Sgt. Rommel Hurtado of the 199th Training Brigade.

The two teams were unable to find all 33 points in the 10-hour time limit, according to Sgt. 1st Class Adam Burton, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the tactical operations center for the contest.

Sunday morning came fast for the surviving 24 teams with back to back events that began with the helocast.

In that event, competitors wrap their rucksacks into a poncho liner and jump into Victory Pond from a Black Hawk helicopter. After swimming to shore with their water-logged poncho raft, they begin the water confidence test by climbing up a 50-foot ladder and zooming down the slide into the water.

After that, they climb 30 feet up another ladder, walk across a log, pull themselves across a rope and tap a large Ranger tab before dropping again into the water.

A canoe race, a new event for the competition, follows the water events, and the teams are expected to cross the finish line Sunday afternoon.

The 60-hour competition is non-stop with events with no programmed sleep that challenge the soldiers’ physical and mental strength and endurance.

Here are the standings of the remaining 24 teams as of Sunday morning:

1.       Sgt. 1st Class Blake Simms

Sgt. 1st Class Chad Stackpole

4th Ranger Training Battalion

2.       Master Sgt. Walter Zajkowski

Master Sgt. Daniel Jenkins

U.S. Special Operations Command

3.       Sgt. Michael Malchow

Sgt. Jesse Collins

75th Ranger Regiment

4. Staff Sgt. Michael Mutchie

Staff Sgt. Miguel Antia

4th Ranger Training Battalion

5. Master Sgt. Eric Turk

Sgt. Maj. Jesse Boettcher

U.S. Special Operations Command

6. Staff Sgt. Brandon Farmer

Staff Sgt. Luke McDowell

75th Ranger Regiment

7. 1st Sgt. Robert Carter

Capt. Samuel Linn

2nd Infantry Division

8. Sgt. Jeremy Billings

Cpl. Troy Jenkins

75th Ranger Regiment

9. Staff Sgt. Benjamin Hunter

Staff Sgt. Ian Hunter

75th Ranger Regiment

10. 1st Lt. Thomas Halverson

1st Lt. Michael Luth

4th Infantry Division

11. Maj. Jose Salinas

Maj. Edward Sedlock

199th Training Brigade

12. 1st Lt. Chris Migliaro

Sgt. 1st Class Jordan Martell

4th Infantry Division

13. Staff Sgt. Raylan Heck

Staff Sgt. Adam Angrisanio

6th Ranger Training Battalion

14. Sgt. Edward Killmeier

Spc. Michael Pierce

75th Ranger Regiment

15. Maj. Pete Kranenburg

Sgt. 1st Class John Przytulski

1st Special Warfare Training Group

16. Capt. Ronald Garberson

Capt. Anthony Aguilar

U.S. Special Operations Command

17. Sgt. 1st Class Mark Breyak

Sgt. 1st Class Steve Fields

Special Warfare Group NCO Academy

18. Sgt. 1st Class Derek Wise

Sgt. David Paul

25th Infantry Division

19. Capt. Stephen Magennis

Capt. Todd Tompkins

Maneuver Captains Career Course

20. 1st Lt. Anthony Kivlehan

1st Lt. Alex Armstrong

4th Infantry Division

21. Staff Sgt. Anthony Fuentes

Capt. David Cochrane

6th Ranger Training Battalion

22. Capt. Lloyd Wohlschlegel

1st Lt. Raymond Kuderka

25th Infantry Division

23. 1st Lt. Lauren Gore 1st

Lt. Benjamin Juvinall

1st Infantry Division

24. 1st Lt. Grant Barge

Capt. Robert Killian

10th Mountain Division

READ MORE:

• Ranger competitors get surprise language test

• 26 teams still standing after grueling road march

• Injuries mark first day of Best Ranger

• Best Ranger kicks off at Benning