Army officer wins 2013 Armed Forces Triathlon Championship

By Tim Hipps, Installation Management CommandJune 7, 2013

Soldier wins 2013 Armed Forces Triathlon
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

NAVAL BASE VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. (June 4, 2013) -- Army Capt. Nicholas Sterghos won the men's crown and Air Force 2nd Lt. Samantha Morrison led the ladies at the 2013 Armed Forces Triathlon Championships, June 1.

Sterghos, a Soldier from Cornelia, Ga., stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, completed the 1,500-meter swim, 40-kilometer bike and 10-kilometer run in 1 hour, 49 minutes and 21 seconds. Maj. James Bales (1:49:57) of Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., took the silver medal, and Navy Lt. Thomas Brown (1:50:20) of San Diego garnered the bronze.

Sterghos posted the fastest run (32:27 - 5:14 per mile pace) among competitors and the third-fastest swim (22:14). He was 17th-fastest on the bike (53:38).

Morrison, a native of Fredericksburg, Va., stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, S.C., completed the same course in 2:07:39, and was followed by silver medalist Navy Lt. Cmdr. Colleen O'Connor (2:10:37) of San Diego, Calif., and bronze medalist Lt. Rachel Beckman (2:11:15) of the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Center in Washington, D.C.

Capt. Stephanie Hightower of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., led the Army women with a fourth-place finish in 2:11:59.

New Hampshire Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Nathan Dressel was the only other Army competitor among the top 10 with a fifth-place finish in 1:51:41.

Navy swept the men's and women's team titles. The Navy men (65) prevailed by one point over Air Force (66), followed by Army (127) and Marine Corps (132). The Navy women (24) also nipped Air Force (26), followed by Marine Corps (41) and Army (54).

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