More than 100 athletes selected to participate in 2019 Army Trials at Fort Bliss
By Whitney Delbridge Nichels, Army Warrior Care and Transition
ARLINGTON, Va. - U. S. Army Medical Command, Deputy Chief of Staff, Army Warrior Care and Transition is proud to announce the selection of more than 100 wounded, ill and injured Soldiers and veterans who will compete at the 2019 Army Trials. The event will take place at Fort Bliss, Texas March 5 - 16 with wounded warrior athletes competing in 12 events with hopes of earning a spot on Team Army for the 2019 Department of Defense Warrior Games hosted by the United States Special Operations Command in Tampa, Florida, June 21-30.
For first time participants, like Spc. Nikita Bowen, the journey to Army Trials has been one filled with training and discipline.
"I want to be a Soldier athlete as long as I can. I have my sights on Warrior Games. [It's been] all about training, eating right, sleeping right. There's always [an] opportunity to become better, so that's my focus," said Bowen during the Pacific Regional Trials at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, the preliminary competition for active duty athletes to qualify for Army Trials.
The Warrior Care and Transition Program equips wounded, ill and injured Soldiers with the resources to return to duty or transition into veteran status. As part of Army Warrior Care's whole-Soldier approach, adaptive reconditioning is introduced to Soldiers in transition to help them remain active and teach them new ways to do different activities, like the sports they have always loved or new activities they never thought possible. With every push forward, the Army athletes at the heart of these games show just what happens when resiliency overpowers fear and the impossible becomes attainable.
"Army Trials is a great event for our wounded, ill and injured Soldiers," said Lt. Col. Heidi Schuster, officer-in-charge of the Warrior Care and Transition Adaptive Reconditioning Program. "Not only will they receive world class training from our coaching staff, but this year they will get to experience a variety of therapeutic recreation events that they can take back with them to help with their recovery."
This is the second year in a row that Army Trials will introduce new events to the competition. This year, wheelchair tennis, wheelchair rugby and golf have been added to the roster of events, which also includes archery, cycling, field, powerlifting, rowing, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, track, wheelchair basketball.
Check out the complete list of athletes selected to participate in the 2019 Army Trials below.
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Active Duty Athletes
SFC Albach, Giovanni
SSG Alexander, Jonathan
SSG Arnold, Kenneth
SSG Averre, Aaron
SFC Bagorio, Rey
SFC Bernard, Timothy
PFC Berry, Joshua
SGT Berry, Ricardo
LTC Bolish, James
SGT Bowen, Nakita
SSG Brown, Matthew
SGT Campos, Christoper
SPC Carlson, Tara
MAJ Carney, Kristina
SSG Childers, Dolores
MAJ Cochran, David
SFC Cooper, Rodney
SGT Cordereo, Eddie
PFC Costanzo, Kyia
SFC Crawley, Ian
SSG Daniels, Samuel
CPT Day, Melissa
CPT Espinoza, David
SGT Flores Roja, Jesus
SGT Foster, Ashton
SSG Gilmore, Rodney
SFC GonzalezCintron, Angel
CPT Gordon, Mya
SGT Guillen Verde, Jose
PFC Hairston, Bryant
SSG Hall, Barry
SPC Harwick, Austin
SPC Henao, Joseph
SPC Herrera, Alexander
SPC Holyan, Kevin
SPC Ingle, Taylor
SSG Ivins, Cory
SPC Johnson, Tykirius
SSG Jones, Alfonzo
SPC Joyner, Drew
SPC Kane, Tanner
SSG Keith, Jeffery
SPC Ketron, Kaylor
SFC Knowles, Ronald
SPC Kozma, Erik
CPT Lee, Paul
CPT Leishman, Devin
CPT Lewis, Robert
SSG Luebbers, Douglas
SPC Mackenzie, Kimberly
SSG Marin, Esteban
SGT Martin, Jay
CW3 Mask, Christopher
SGT Mathers, Justin
SFC Maynard, Andrew
SSG McLeod, Kohl
SPC McLimans, Shannon
SGT Mendoza, Gleimarie
SPC Miller, Sean
SPC Miller, Trevor
CPT Morales, Shirley
SPC Nelson, Shawon
SFC Nielsen, Brandon
SGT Palacios, Jesse
SPC Piper, Raymond
SSG Reifke, Paul
CPT Roberts, David
SGT Rodriguez, Jorge
SFC Rodriguez-Rexroad, Tiffany
SPC Salinas, Marcos
SGT Serna, Brian
SFC Shin, Daniel
SPC Singh, Rakesh
SSG Sixkiller, Brent
SPC Smith, Adam
CPT Stone, Max
PFC Thompson, Jovonda
CSM Tinney, Ric
PFC Toaiva, Vaisigano
SPC Torres, Darrel
SGT Turner, Casey
PV2 Washington, Clifton
SFC Williams, Thomas
SFC Wilson, Juan
SGT Windham, Brian
MSG Wright, Cinnamon
SFC Yeates, Douglas
SPC Young, Katherine
Veteran Athletes
SFC Abe, Takumi
SSG Alewine, Ross
SPC Alvarado, Ray
SSG Blow, Adam
CPT Bomke, Tim
SGT Boyd, Harvey
SPC Britt, Lauren
SSG Butts, Rae Ann
SFC Duval, Douglas
SPC Euson, Angela
PV2 Evans, J'Lene
SPC Garlic, Brent
SSG Gonzalez, Armando
MAJ Hammac, William
SSG Hightower II., Charles
SPC Holmes, Erin
SSG King, Beth
SSG Lammers, Matthew
SGT Nelson, Shawon
SFC Olson, Joshua
MSG Peele, Clifton E.
SSG Rhoten, Dorian
CPT Rodgers, Charles (Kenny)
SSG Rodriguez, Joel
SSG Runnells J., Shawn
SPC Sanchez, Michelle
SSG Shaw, Michael
MAJ Truesdale, Christina
SPC Villarreal, Maria
SGT Weasner, Jonathan
CPT Wilson, Dandy (Alex)
SFC Young, Terrance
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