MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. -- The United States Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment announced the 50 wounded, ill and injured Marines and Marine veterans who will serve on the All-Marine Warrior Games team March 2.
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 AllenCpl. Rejy Bacchus, veteranCpl. Nick Beach, veteranStaff Sgt. Matthew BenackLance Cpl. David BondSgt. Joshua BromilowSgt. Keith BuckmonSgt. Ashley ChavezLance Cpl. Kevin DeWitt, veteranCapt. Jonathan DisbroChief Warrant Officer 3 Shawn DunnGunnery Sgt. Daniel FrawleyCpl. Angel Gomez, veteranSgt. Jose Gonzales, veteranSgt. Daniel Govier, veteranLance Cpl. Nicholas GreenCpl. Travis Greene, veteranCpl. Raymond Hannegir, veteranLance Cpl. Joshua JablonCpl. Manuel JimenezLance Cpl. Justin KnowlesCpl. Olivia KollerCpl. Daniel Lasko, veteranCpl. Zachary LinhardtSgt. Stephen LuntStaff Sgt. Nathan LynchCpl. Savage Margraf, veteranLance Cpl. Levi MarshallStaff Sgt. Scott Martin, veteranLance Cpl. Joshua McDanielSgt. Nicholas Meadows, veteranSgt. Kevin MundorffSgt. Cogen NelsonMaster Sgt. Dionisios Nicholas, veteranSgt. Rashon PalmerCpl. Peter Park, veteranLance Cpl. Brandon Pelletier, veteranSgt. Lee Randles, veteran1stLt Richard RushStaff Sgt. James RytychCpl. Clifford SandyLance Cpl. Jese SchagLance Cpl. Chuck Sketch, veteranSgt. Richard TackStaff Sgt. Jedidiah VermillionCpl. Bradley Walker, veteranLance Cpl. Joshua WegeLance Cpl. Lance Weir, veteranCpl. Thomas Whiteway, veteranGunnery Sgt. Marcus Wilson
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.