Wounded Warrior Regiment announces All-Marine Warrior Games team
By: Capt. Jill Leyden
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. (March 2, 2011) -- The United States Marine Corps Wounded
Warrior Regiment announces the 50 wounded, ill and injured Marines and Marine veterans who will serve on
the All-Marine Warrior Games team.
The team is well rounded, with athletes from across the country, both active duty and veteran. Thirty Marines
on active duty and 20 veterans comprise the team that will travel to Colorado Springs, Colo. to battle it out
against the Army, Navy and Air Force for Warrior Games bragging rights.
Here is your 2011 All-Marine Warrior Games team:
- Lance Cpl. Austin Allen
- Cpl. Rejy Bacchus, veteran
- Cpl. Nick Beach, veteran
- Staff Sgt. Matthew Benack
- Sgt. Richardo Bengochea
- Lance Cpl. David Bond
- Sgt. Joshua Bromilow
- Sgt. Keith Buckmon
- Sgt. Ashley Chavez
- Lance Cpl. Kevin DeWitt, veteran
- Capt. Jonathan Disbro
- Chief Warrant Officer 3 Shawn Dunn
- Gunnery Sgt. Daniel Frawley
- Cpl. Angel Gomez, veteran
- Sgt. Jose Gonzales, veteran
- Sgt. Daniel Govier, veteran
- Lance Cpl. Nicholas Green
- Cpl. Travis Greene, veteran
- Cpl. Raymond Hannegir, veteran
- Lance Cpl. Joshua Jablon
- Cpl. Manuel Jimenez
- Cpl. Olivia Koller
- Cpl. Daniel Lasko, veteran
- Cpl. Zachary Linhardt
- Sgt. Stephen Lunt
- Staff Sgt. Nathan Lynch
- Cpl. Savage Margraf, veteran
- Lance Cpl. Levi Marshall
- Staff Sgt. Scott Martin, veteran
- Sgt. David McCreary
- Sgt. Nicholas Meadows, veteran
- Sgt. Kevin Mundorff
- Sgt. Cogen Nelson
- Master Sgt. Dionisios Nicholas, veteran
- Sgt. Rashon Palmer
- Cpl. Peter Park, veteran
- Lance Cpl. Brandon Pelletier, veteran
- Sgt. Lee Randles, veteran
- 1stLt Richard Rush
- Staff Sgt. James Rytych
- Cpl. Clifford Sandy
- Lance Cpl. Jese Schag
- Lance Cpl. Chuck Sketch, veteran
- Sgt. Richard Tack
- Staff Sgt. Jedidiah Vermillion
- Cpl. Bradley Walker, veteran
- Lance Cpl. Joshua Wege
- Lance Cpl. Lance Weir, veteran
- Cpl. Thomas Whiteway, veteran
The All-Marine team took home gold at the Inaugural Warrior Games last year and they are looking
to defend their title and keep the Chairman's Cup. For 18 of the athletes, it will be their second
trip to the Games. But the Marines are not just looking for a repeat performance; they want to exceed
last year's accomplishments. The capstone event of that preparation was the Marine Corps Trials.
"We held the Marine Corps Trials to offer world-class training and international competition to the wounded,
ill, and injured Marines we support through the phases of recovery. The Marines competed with an unstoppable
warrior spirit, living up to the Regimental motto Etiam In Pugna, or Still in the Fight," said Maj. Susan Stark,
the officer in charge of the Regiment’s Warrior Athlete Reconditioning program and All-Marine Warrior Games team.
Stark, along with 250 other staff members and volunteers hosted the Marine Corps Trials aboard Marine Corps Base
Camp Pendleton, Calif. Feb. 18-27. The staff and coaches used the Trials as a forum to assist in the selection of
the 50 athletes.
The Marine Corps Trials featured the same sports as the Warrior Games; swimming, track and field, sitting
volleyball, wheelchair basketball, shooting, archery, and cycling, with 155 wounded, ill and injured Marines,
Marine veterans, international service members and one veteran Navy corpsman participating. The training and
competition during the Trials was fierce, with athletes vying for top placement in team and individual sports.
The athletes were divided into four teams, East, West, Veteran and Allied. The Allied team had service members
from the British Royal Marine Corps, Australian Defence Force and the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps. The four
teams fiercely competed against each other, with the Veterans finishing in first place over team West and team
East finishing third just ahead of the Allied team.
The Trials also included a Warrior Pentathlon competition, where Marines competed in 50m swim, 100m track,
cycling, shot put and 10m air rifle prone events to be named all-around top athlete. The Warrior Pentathlete
for the Marine Corps Trials is Capt. Jonathan S. Disbro. Disbro, 39, is currently serving on active duty at Marine
Corps Tactical Systems Support Activity, a component of Marine Corps Systems Command, aboard Marine Corps Base Camp
Pendleton. This will be his second trip to the Warrior Games.
Riding the wave of the Trials, these 50 Marine athletes will train over the next two months for competition at
the Games. With gold in their sights, the All-Marine Warrior Games team will be working harder than ever before.
"We are confident that the 50 athletes selected will best represent the U.S. Marine Corps at the 2011 Warrior Games,"
said Stark after the final team selection was made.
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