Army men win 5th Armed Forces Championship; Marines take first team women’s gold

“I was asked by our coach Col. Liam Collins if I would consider running for the All-Army team”, Lafontaine said.  “I ran at West Point and wanted to continue running”.

Navy’s Ensign Jordan Tropf of Bethesda, Md. sprinted the last 100 feet to win Armed Forces silver with a time of 2:27:03, edging out Army’s 2nd lt.Daniel Schlich of Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. with a time of 2:27:08.

This is the 2nd consecutive year and fourth time in five years that a soldier captured the top men’s spot in the Marine Corps Marathon. In 2014, Army had both the top male and top female winners.

Army’s dominance of the Armed Forces Championship continued this year as they won their fifth consecutive Men’s Armed Forces Team gold medal with a total score of 15 points. Navy (26 points) took team silver with Air Force (56 points) and Marine Corps (64 points) placing third and fourth respectively.

Team scores are determined by the overall Armed Forces place, with the lowest scores determining the winner. 

For the first time since 2004, the Marine Corps returned to top of the podium, with the Women capturing gold in the Armed Forces Championship. 

Leading the Marines was Capt. Christine Taranto of Monterey, Calif. with a time of 2:53:30, placing 2nd overall in the Marine Corps Marathon Women’s Division and 1st in the Armed Forces Championship. 

Taranto became the first Marine female to reach the top-three since 2004.

 “To come in the overall top three on the home course, it just feels good to represent the Marine Corps,” said Taranto.

Rounding out the Armed Forces medalist was Air Force 1st Lt. Magin Day of Ramstein, Germany (2:56:28) and Army’s 1st Lt. Chelsea Prahl of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. (2:56:49).

After competing at the 6th Conseil International du Sport Militaire (CISM) World Military World Games two weeks earlier, Air Force Lt. Col. Brenda Schrank of placed fifth overall in the Armed Forces Championship with a time of 2:52:32, giving Air Force the edge to take the Armed Forces team silver. Army placed third with 12 points followed by Navy taking fourth with 20 team points. 

The Armed Forces Championship has been held in conjunction with the Marine Corps Marathon since 1998. Last year, the Armed Forces competitors took the top three men finishers and first and third female places in the overall marathon competition.   

In 2006, the Armed Forces Championship separated the men and women competitions for the first time, where it had previously been a combined men and women team competition.

The 2015 Armed Forces championship comes just two weeks after the CISM Military World Games in Mungyeong, South Korea 2-10 October. The US Armed Forces Women took team bronze. Schrank along with the 2014 Marine Corps Marathon winner Army Capt. Meghan Curran and Air Force Staff Sgt. Emily Shertzer competed in a grueling race that featured numerous elevation changes throughout the course. 

The 2016 CISM Marathon will be held in Turin, Italy. Selections for the U.S. Armed Forces team will be announced in the upcoming months.

Complete results:

Individual Medalists:

Men:

1 – 2LT Trevor Lafontaine, Army (West Point, N.Y); 2:24:25

2 – ENS Jordan Tropf, Navy (Bethesda, Md.); 2:27:03

3 – 2LT Daniel Schlich, Army (Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.); 2:27:08

Women:

1 – Capt Christine Taranto, USMC (Monterrey, Calif.); 2:53:30

2 – 1st Lt. Magin Day, USAF (Ramstein, Germany); 2:56:28

3 – 1LT Chelsea Prahl, Army (Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.); 2:56:49

Men’s Team Results:

U.S. Army – 1st Place: 15 points (top 4 of 6)

1 - Trevor Lafontaine     2:24:25        

3 - Daniel Schlich           2:27:08                 

4 - Kenneth Foster         2:27:45                 

7 - Japheth Ng'ojoy        2:31:20                 

(8) Jose Campos             2:32:28                 

(11) Bryce Livingston     2:33:39                 

U.S. Navy – 2nd Place: 26 points (top 4 of 6)      

2 - Jordan Tropf              2:27:03

5 - Justin Turner             2:29:27                 

9 - William Christian       2:32:43                 

10 - Rob Coslick               2:32:59                 

(13) Patrick Hearn           2:34:57                 

(18) Steve Slaby              2:46:14                 

U.S. Air Force – 3rd Place: 56 points (top 4 of 6)

6 - Timothy Richard        2:30:52

12 - Juanjose Moran        2:33:52                 

17 - Douglas Wickert       2:42:27                 

21 - Jason Brosseau         2:46:56                 

(22) Mark Cucuzzella       2:55:41                 

(23) Alex Escaroega         3:23:39                 

U.S. Marine Corps – 4th Place: 64 points (top 4 of 6)

14 - Richard Powell          2:35:28

15 - Pedro Rodriguez       2:37:22                 

16 - Luke Rodina              2:38:47                 

19 - Richard Jennings       2:46:29                 

(20)  Michael Siringer        2:46:31                 

U.S. Marine Corps – 1st Place: 5 points (top 2 of 4)

1 - Christine Taranto             2:53:30 

4 - Danielle Pozun                  3:01:06                 

(6) Angelica Valdez                 3:05:39                 

(11) Sara Pacheco                     3:10:15                 

U.S. Air Force – 2nd Place: 7 points (top 2 of 4)

2 - Magin Day                           2:56:28

5 - Brenda Schrank                  3:05:13                 

(8) Sarah Auer                         3:07:25                 

(10) Amy Natalini                     3:09:34                 

U.S. Army – 3rd Place: 12 points (top 2 of 4)

3 - Chelsea Prahl                       2:56:49

9 - Nicole Solana                       3:09:02                 

(12) Margaret Smith                 3:14:48                 

(14) Susan Tanui                      3:18:16                 

U.S. Navy – 4th Place: 20 points (top 2 of 4)

7 - Susan Richardson                 3:05:59

13 - Meghan Connor                  3:16:33                 

(15) Jenny Moore                      3:24:20