SAN DIEGO, Calif. –
Navy Cmdr. Kyle Hooker crossed the finish line first once again for his eighth Armed Forces Triathlon title Saturday.
Hooker has competed in more than 100 triathlons and Ironman competitions across the globe.
But Saturday’s race left him emotional.
This time he faced a strong challenge from Air Force 2nd Lt. Mark Romano, a fellow pro triathlon athlete.
Hooker also had limited time to train due to his wife being pregnant and hospitalized for weeks. And mission requirements of his new job as the executive officer of Training Squadron 3, Naval Air Station
Whiting Field, Florida made it challenging for him to stay in peak shape.
“It’s been a tough year for me,” Hooker said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better race with the amount of time that I’ve had and everything that’s going on in my life. I’m blessed to be here. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”
The All-Air Force triathlon team gave Navy a strong push in both the men’s and women’s divisions led by second place finisher Romano and Air Force Capt. Samantha Skold, the women’s runner-up. Navy eventually took first place for both the men and women, bolstered by a stellar finish from Ensign Hannah Walz, who finished first for the second straight year.
Romano, the 2025 USA Triathlon Collegiate Club Male Olympic-Distance National Champion, suffered a setback early, succumbing to fatigue during the race-opening swim in San Diego Bay.
Romano then pushed the pace to get back into the race behind Hooker.
However, exhaustion eventually caught up to the second lieutenant again during one leg of the run through San Diego’s Point Loma neighborhood, and he eventually fell behind Hooker. Hooker finished with a race-best 1:58:13. Romano finished second at 2:00:05, a tick ahead of last year’s runner up, Petty Officer 2nd Class Kyle Warrick of the Navy Reserve Center, Salt Lake City.
“I honestly thought I had him,” Romano said. “But I just couldn’t do it anymore. He’s just insane, he held the same pace until the finish.”
Even with Romano’s strength in the run and robust triathlon resume, he knew faced a herculean challenge to compete with Hooker. Hooker, the all-time winningest competitor in the All-Armed Forces Triathlon, presented a difficult challenge to Romano in all three events. He has also been named the USA Triathlon Military Program’s athlete of the year.
“I knew it was going to be hard with Kyle, but I did everything I could to win, so I really can’t ask more of myself,” Romano said. “My legs were so destroyed that I had nothing left.”
Romano, a former swimmer, began competing in triathlons after the Air Force Academy triathlon coach asked him to try out. Romano rose quickly in the sport, placing first in his last four national Ironman races and has competed at world championship triathlons.
Romano said that his legs gave out during the swim in the San Diego Bay and he fell behind by more than a minute. The 2025 Air Force Academy graduate quickly made up the ground in the bike race and run.
“We definitely pushed each other,” Hooker said. “But I was able to hang on.”
Complete Results
Women Team Event:
1st: Navy
2nd: USAF
3rd: USMC
4th: Army
Men Team Event:
1st: Navy
2nd: USAF
3rd: Army
4th: USMC
Gold: ENS Hannah Walz, NAS Whiting Field, Milton FL - Navy - 2:11:02
Silver: Capt Samantha Skold, JB Elmendorf-Richardson, AK - USAF - 2:12:42
Bronze: LTJG Anna Bryant, Little Creek, VA - Navy - 2:19:52
4th Place: 1stLt Megan Gephart, NAS Whiting - USMC - 2:22:52
5th Place: 1LT Waverly Schnetzler, Fort Bliss; TX - Army - 2:23:12
6th Place: Capt Stephanie Murphy, MARFOREURAF, Germany - USMC - 2:23:41
7th Place: Maj Erica Kao, JBSA Ft. Sam Houston, TX - USAF - 2:23:54
8th Place: Maj Phaelen French, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH - USAF - 2:25:46
9th Place: 1Lt Jillian Valente, Keesler AFB, MS - USAF - 2:26:30
10th Place: LTJG Natalie Schieuer, Pearl Harbor, HI - Navy - 2:28:08
11th Place: Col Christine Houser, MCAS Camp Pendleton, CA - USMC - 2:29:42
12th Place: LTJG Taylor Thompson, Twentynine Palms, CA - Navy - 2:30:24
13th Place: Maj Esther Willett, F.E. Warren AFB, MT - USAF - 2:32:29
14th Place: LTJG Brielle Pearce*, USCG Miami - Navy - 2:34:24
15th Place: LTC Christyn Gaa, Fort Bliss; TX - Army - 2:40:49
16th Place: 2ndLt Samantha Schofield, NAS Pensacola, FL - USMC - 2:41:13
17th Place: CPT Samantha Decapua, Fort Jackson; SC - Army - 2:42:48
18th Place: MAJ Lauren Blake, Joint Base San Antonio Fort Sam Houston; TX - Army - 2:48:06
19th Place: 1stLt Meredith Wood, Camp Pendleton, CA - USMC - 2:59:58
Gold: CDR Kyle Hooker, NAS Whiting Field, Milton FL - Navy - 1:58:13
Silver: 2d Lt Mark Romano, USAF Academy, CO - USAF - 2:00:05
Bronze: PO2 Kyle Warrick, NRC Salt Lake City - Navy - 2:01:08
4th Place: 2d Lt Samuel Busa, NAS Pensacola, FL - USAF - 2:01:29
5th Place: MAJ Nicholas Sterghos, Army Reserve - Army - 2:01:42
6th Place: Lt Col Scott Tonder, USAF Academy, CO - USAF - 2:03:42
7th Place: LCDR Ian King*, CSD St. Louis, MO - Navy - 2:04:05
8th Place: LCDR Patrick Trabert, Bangor, WA - Navy - 2:04:33
9th Place: LT Andrew Greenhalgh, Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune - Navy - 2:05:35
10th Place: 2LT Clayton Bernauer, West Point; NY - Army - 2:06:43
11th Place: Maj Joel Bischoff, Maxwell-Gunter AFB, AL - USAF - 2:06:50
12th Place: LT Timothy Parker, NRC San Antonio - Navy - 2:06:56
13th Place: Maj Brett King, Buckley SFB, CO - USAF - 2:08:48
14th Place: PO2 Samuel Dannenbring*, USCG Sector North Bend - Navy - 2:09:52
15th Place: Lt Col Josh Banks, Hill AFB, UT - USAF - 2:14:38
16th Place: TSgt Michael Gannon, 151 ARW, UT - USAF - 2:22:19
17th Place: COL Bryan Dunker, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst; NJ - Army - 2:25:48
18th Place: MAJ Troy Lambert, Fort Belvoir; VA - Army - 2:27:05
19th Place: MSgt Chad Holladay, Camp Courtney, Okinawa, Japan - USMC - 2:28:55
20th Place: Maj JJ Higginson, 5th NELR, San Diego, CA - USMC - 2:29:55
21st Place: Maj Alex Westerholm, Camp Pendleton, CA - USMC - 2:32:32
22nd Place: Capt David Gallaher, NAS Oceana, VA - USMC - 2:37:22
23rd Place: 1SG James Paska, Army Recruiter - Seattle Recruiting Company - Army - 2:43:11
24th Place: Capt Seth Wynn, MCB Butler, Okinawa, Japan - USMC - 2:45:16
25th Place: 1LT Wesley Constandse, Fort Bragg; NC - Army - 2:50:00
26th Place: 2ndLt Kenneth Snyder, Navlal Justice School, RI - USMC - 2:57:23
27th Place: CWO2 Paul Shaver, Camp Pendleton, CA - USMC - 3:10:58