Norwich students volunteer at annual Sugarbush Triathlon

By Natasha Waggoner
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

On Saturday, April 6, and Sunday, April 7, four teams and 49 volunteers from Norwich University participated in the 24th annual Sugarbush Triathlon.

"This year, we sent 49 people to work it, and the Army ROTC sent four teams to compete in it," said Emiliano Tellado, 20, a junior and political science major from Orlando, fl. "This year was the 24th annual one, and this is the first year that Norwich took a big, active part in it."

Last year, Norwich students just competed, but this year was the first time the school sent volunteers to work the triathlon, according to Tellado.

"This is the first time Norwich has actually volunteered," Tellado said. "They worked all Saturday and all Sunday for a total of 20 hours for the whole weekend."

Volunteers did tasks such as traffic detail, the setup and takedown of the events, parent control, and assisted with the kayaks and bikes, according to Steven Veves, 22, a senior and criminal justice major from Southborough, Mass.

"I was the officer in charge of all the duty or personnel that went down from Norwich to Sugarbush," Veves said. "We pretty much just did volunteer work for the whole triathlon, and on Saturday we also helped out with the little kids."

Volunteers consisted of Military Police Company, a few cadets from Band Company, and cadets who were on Closed Military Confinement and Closed Confinement, according to Tellado.

"This is probably one of the biggest things the school has done in a while in a group outside the community for a while," Tellado said. "It was a pretty good effort, and everyone had a good time."

According to Delmar Condinho, 24, a junior and business management major from East Providence, RI, even though he was there working off tours, he still had fun.

"Saturday was the kids' triathlon, and we were there to set it up, set up the track, and we helped the kids out," Condinho said. "We actually helped them run the triathlon, and then at the end of it, a bunch of us actually got in the kayaks and ran the course that the kids ran in, and that was a lot of fun."

Benjamin Sipe, 19, a freshman and history major from Keene, NH, was a volunteer from Band Company and put in charge of his section.

"I helped direct traffic, cars, cleared the way for bikers in the bike race and I had to make sure the people in my section knew what they were doing," Sipe said. "Everyone said we did a really good job; they were happy with us and that we were there."

John Flaherty, 20, a freshman and criminal justice major from Marshall, Mass., also worked at the triathlon as part of Military Police Company.

"Our company was picked to do it, and I think we had to do it just because we were Military Police Company," Flaherty said. "The training we did this year helped with this event, because we learned how to park cars and where to put them and everything; it was fun."

Along with volunteers, Norwich University's Army ROTC unit sent four teams to compete, according to Major N.J. Newell, Assistant Professor of Military Science.

"We had four teams compete this year, and the majority of the folks that competed had participated last year," Newell said. "I had two sophomore teams, and then I had
two fresh freshmen teams."

According to Newell, this is a great way for freshmen to get involved.

"I wanted to give the freshmen an opportunity to do something outside of Norwich, involved in the community, and at the same time it was an athletic event which was along the lines of what we were looking to do," Newell said. "It's a fantastic event; the cadets that were involved with it seemed to have a great time, and I hope next year a lot more teams compete in it."

Major Russ Holden, Battalion Commandant, heard about the event a few weeks in advance and thought it would be a great experience for the cadets to get involved in.

"We heard about the triathlon about two or three weeks in advance, and it looked like a great opportunity to expose some of our cadets to running, cross-country skiing, canoeing and biking," Holden said. "It's important to expose the kids to things that they can use as lifelong sports as opposed to organized athletics that you can't carry over to the rest of your life when you're out of college."

Chris Bigott, 21, a sophomore and sports medicine major from Rockville, MD, participated on a team for his second year.

"I was on a team last year, and this year I was on a team with other sophomores," Bigott said. "Last year, I think we did better, but we didn't have the FTX."

The Army Field Training Exercise (FTX) for the sophomores and juniors was on the same weekend as the triathlon, according to Bigott.

"This year, we had the FTX, so I was running around with my ruck all day Friday and Saturday ,and then competed on Sunday," Bigott said. "I ran the 5 miles, I was doing well, but I messed my knee up on the FTX, so my knee started hurting on the third mile, and that kind of ruined my run."

Matt Gottschling, 20, a sophomore and business management major from Fox County, Penn., and Michael Viera, 20, a sophomore and criminal justice major from St. Johnsbury, VT, were also on Bigott's team this year as the canoe racers.

"My part in the triathlon was on the canoe team with myself and Matt Gottschling," Viera said. "The only problem was, 100 yards into the race we flipped the canoe over."

"The water was at least 10 feet deep, we couldn't touch the bottom, and we were fully clothed, swimming in freezing water, and we both had trouble swimming to the canoe," Gottschling said. "However, we got there, and turned the canoe back over, and continued on; we finished really, really cold."

Kathleen Dues, 19, a sophomore and environmental science major from Needham, Mass., along with cadets Provencher and Na-Songklah, made up an all-women's team.

"Last year, Provencher and I said that we wanted to either do an Iron Woman or have an all-girls' team, because we wanted to have a more fun team, and we also wanted to show that girls can do it just as well as the guys," Dues said. "Provencher did the skiing and canoeing, Na-Songklah did canoeing, and I did the biking and running."

According to Dues, the guys at the event were really supportive of the all-female team.

"It was a lot of fun, and I know we came in after the guys, but they all were really supportive," Dues said. "Scott Cowles is awesome. I was running, and I saw him coming towards me at the end of my run, and he motivated me, making me go faster, and I beat my time from last year."

Scott Cowles, 19, a freshman and political science major form Ithaca, NY, participated for his first year and plans on doing it again next year.

"I loved it, and I plan to do it again next year," Cowles said. "If we do it through the Army Department again next year, I want to do it with a team that does it all in BDUs and do my run with a ruck and boots and full BDUs; we should go all out."

Many think this is a great event and encourage future involvement in the triathlon.

"I think it's a great event, and with more planning I'd like to see every company come up with a team to compete," Holden said.

"I just hope it becomes a tradition that we do this," Veves said. "It was very fun for everyone to go down and help out, and maybe we'll get more teams involved next year."

Back to Guidon index