The 130th Engineer Brigade placed first overall in the 15th annual Seabee Olympics at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Feb. 19, edging out the Navy team in a tie-breaking 200 meter relay sprint.
The Seabee Olympics is an annual competition held amongst engineers from 1995 to 1999 and brought back in 2007 with the intent to build camaraderie, esprit de corps and unit cohesion through seven rigorous athletic events.
The day started with the Seabees Fit Games, and while the 130th took last place they bounced back and finished first place in the basketball shoot-out. With the pressure on, Sgt. Daryl Snipes performed like LeBron James to help his team recover.
In the Ultimate Frisbee event, the 130th Eng Bde took a lump to the juggernaut team of Marines, finishing in third place. "We had the Marines right where we wanted them," Capt. Lauren Blanton stated. "We just failed to execute the game plan."
The 130th Eng Bde answered back with a dominant performance at volleyball, breezing through the competition to a first place finish, but placing third in the truck push nearly destroyed the team's chances of winning the Olympics. The Soldiers would now need to win both of the final two events to take home the gold.
In the tug o' war, the 130th Eng Bde were literally within inches of losing. Suddenly, under the leadership of Sgt. 1st Class Ramant Stewart, they synchronized their pulls perfectly and sent the Sailors toppling into second place.
Awaiting guest judge Ms. Oahu to score the creative construction competition, the 130th TEB team were visibly confident in their project. When the scoring officials announced the Soldiers as 2nd place finishers, however, it caused an overall tie in scores between the Navy and 130th Eng Bde. The judges had to create an immediate solution -- a 200 meter sprint relay.
Adrenaline was pumping as both teams had five minutes to pick their runners and execute. The four runners took their positions and the whistle blew. The 130th Eng Bde gained an immediate lead over the Navy and never looked back, winning the Admiral's Hammer Award and taking trophy to Schofield Barracks.
2016 marked the first year the Seabees invited joint partners to join the Olympics, allowing engineers from Marine Corps Base Hawaii and Schofield Barracks to compete. From the very beginning, the 130th Eng Bde showed they were there to win.
"We're here to destroy the competition and take the trophy home!" 1st Sgt. Jaime Lopez shouted in a fiery, Spartan-like speech before the first event. "Now let's get out there and demolish them!"
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