Butler, Seneca Valley JROTC teams test skills at Raider Challenge
SLIPPERY ROCK TWP — The Junior ROTC teams from Butler and Seneca Valley high schools accomplished their missions at the annual Raider Challenge Competition at Slippery Rock University.
They displayed teamwork, character and leadership at Saturday's event.
Butler finished second among the five mixed teams of boys and girls, and Seneca Valley, which hasn't fielded a team in two years, finished last among the three male-only teams.
Both area teams trained for months leading up to the competition, which was overseen by students in the university's ROTC program and members of the National Guard.
“I ran them into the ground,” said Joe Cieslo, senior Army instructor for the Seneca Valley team. “I want them to see they can compete with other teams that have been here. It's a great event. It really challenges them. We're building for the future.”
Senior and team captain Matthew Ehret said he was a freshmen the last time the team competed.
“My goal is for them to compete as hard as they can,” Ehret said before the competition. “I'm not sure we can compete with Butler and some of the other teams that are here every year. We have the athletic capability to compete with them. This team is just the tip of the spear.”
The Seneca Valley team completed the technical “one rope bridge” event without any penalties. Each team member tied his own Swiss seat harness from rope and attached carabiners before the team tied another rope between two trees. They used teamwork to hoist each other onto the rope bridge and to remove each other after they crossed the bridge.
“They have a lot of fun and the teamwork is amazing,” said Heather Darak, whose sophomore son, Dylan, is on the team.
“It's a great opportunity for kids to meet kids from other schools with similar interests and have a spirited competition,” said Dylan's father, Ron Darak.
Butler, which won the event in 2016, finished behind rival Beaver High School, which also won last year.
“First place,” was the goal this year, said Sgt. Kenneth Howard, Butler's senior Army instructor.
Members of all the teams supported and urged each other on through the five grueling contests.
Robert Hays, a senior and the commander of Butler's team, demonstrated his leadership during the backbreaking gauntlet event when he put teammate Kayley Baker on his back and carried her across the finish line after she fell running down a steep hill.
The gauntlet requires the team to run up the steep hill, traverse wooded terrain at the top, run back down and then crawl for 30 feet under simulated barbed wire while sharing the responsibility of carrying four 25-pound ruck sacks on their backs.
“We always want to win. It's more than just a team. It's a family,” Hays said. “I'm really glad I got to lead this team.”
“He surprises us every day. He's as academic as he is physical,” said his mother, Donna Hays. She said Robert has participated in a number of sports and is in the gifted program at school.
“He's highly motivated,” said his father, Colin Hays.
They said Robert is joining the Army Airborne Rangers after high school.
“Sgt. Howard takes a personal, vested interest in the kids and develops them at all levels,” Donna said.
“They get up at 4:30 a.m. for training and then they go to classes,” said Anthony Schaffner, whose son Dylan Schaffner is the unit battalion commander and a senior, “We're proud of them. They work their butts off.”
He said Dylan wants to attend the Army's medic training program after boot camp.
