BEND, Oregon (Feb. 6, 2016) – Three Soldiers and a Navy lieutenant are among the top 10 runners in America with Army taking the men’s and women’s team titles in the 2016 Armed Forces Cross Country Championships on Feb. 6 at Rivers Edge Golf Course.
Army men captured their third consecutive Armed Forces crown behind the top ten performance of brothers Spc. Hilllary Bor of Fort Carson, Colorado, and Spc. Emmanuel Bor of Fort Bliss, Texas.
Hillary Bor captured individual Armed Forces gold with a time of 32 minutes, 37 seconds, as his brother Emmanuel Bor crossed the finish line two seconds later (32:39) to take the silver in the 10-kilometer race that was held in conjunction with the USA Track and Field National Cross Country Championship.
“I am so happy to win the title, especially winning with my brothers,” Emmanuel Bor said. “Who does that? Is it not history? I mean with all of us top five and top 20 overall in USA national cross country. I am very proud. Yes, we did it!”
Spc. Julius Bor, the third Bor brother also of Fort Carson, finished fifth in the Armed Forces and 18th overall with a time of 34:18.
Navy Lt. Will Christian (33:40) rounded out the men’s podium, taking bronze and leading Navy to the team silver.
Team scoring is based on the displacement scoring system counting the placements of the top five of seven runners. Army scored 20 points, followed by Navy (52), Marine Corps (76) and Air Force (90) in the Armed Forces competition.
On the women’s side, Navy Lt. Gina Slaby (38:47) of Fleet Logistics Center Puget Sound in Bremerton, Washington, took the Armed Forces women’s gold and placed seventh overall in the national championship with a time of 38:47.
Army Sgt. Caroline Jepleting of Kaiserslautern, Germany, finished second in Armed Forces and 10th overall with a time of 39:03. Jepleting led Army to their back-to-back women’s team title in addition to the stellar performances of Pfc. Susan Tanui, Fort Riley, Kan. (40:10, 4th place) and Capt. Meghan Curran of Fort Devens, Mass (40:29, 5th place).
Air Force Capt. Katherine Ward of Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas won bronze with a time of 39:25, leading Air Force to team silver.
Army won the Armed Forces women’s division with 20 points, followed by All-Air Force (33), All-Navy (38) and All-Marine Corps (56). Women team scoring counts the top four of six runners.
“It’s a great opportunity to represent the Army and the U.S. Armed Forces in sports,” Emmanuel Bor said. “It’s a program that helps explore the talents among the armed forces and I think it fosters friendship and togetherness. I remember when I represented the U.S. at the 2015 CISM Military World Games in Korea. The theme was “Friendship Together, Peace Forever.” It was a powerful message and without the All-Army Sports and Armed Forces Sports programs we couldn’t meet the entire armed force in the world. It was incredible.
Many of the runners at the Armed Forces Cross Country Championship will also compete in upcoming Armed Forces Marathon Championship, held in conjunction with the Marine Corps Marathon on October 30, 2016.
For more information on the Armed Forces Sports program, visit www.armedforcessports.com or follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Photos of the event will also be posted on www.flickr.com/armedforcessports.
Complete Results:
"ARMY RUNS AWAY WITH TEAM GOLD - TWO WOMEN AND TWO MEN FINISH IN NATIONAL
TOP TEN"
FINAL WOMEN'S TEAM STANDINGS:
1st Place - ARMY (20 points)
2nd Place - AIR FORCE (33 points)
3rd Place - NAVY (38 points)
4th Place - MARINE CORPS (56 points)
FINAL MEN'S TEAM STANDINGS:
1st place - ARMY (20 points)
2nd place - NAVY (52 points)
3rd place - MARINE CORPS (76 points)
4th Place - AIR FORCE (90 points)
INDIVIDUAL MEDAL WINNERS - WOMEN
GOLD - LT Gina Slaby (Navy)FLC Puget Sound, Bremerton, WA;
SILVER –SGT Caroline Jepleting (Army) Kaiserslautern, Germany;
BRONZE - Capt Kathrine Ward (Air Force) JBSA-Lackland, TX
INDIVIDUAL MEDAL WINNERS - MEN
GOLD - SPC Hillary Bor (Army) Fort Carson, CO;
SILVER - SPC Emmanuel Bor (Army) Fort Bliss, TX ;
BRONZE - LT Will Christian (Navy)NMCB 2, Norfolk, VA
WOMEN'S ARMED FORCES TEAM SCORING SUMMARY (10K)
(Note: Team determined by adding the displacement finish of top four of six runners)
ARMY:
2nd place - SGT Caroline Jepleting (39:03)
4th place - PFC Susan Tanui, Fort Riley, KS (40:10)
5th place - CPT Meghan Curran, Fort Devens, MA (40:29)
9th place - SPC Caroline Karunde, Grafenwoehr, Germany (41:45)
(12th place) -SPC Winrose Karunde, Baumholder, Germany (42.51)
(16th place) - MAJ Amanda Wilson, Fort Bragg, NC (44:48)
AIR FORCE:
3rd place - Capt Katherine Ward (39:25)
7th place - SSgt Emily Shertzer, Fort Indiantown Gap, PA (41:09)
10th place - Maj Charlotte Portlock, Indiana Univ, Bloomington, IN (42:02)
13th place - Maj Caitlin Thom, Auburn Univ, AL (44:12)
(15th place) - Lt Col Brian Schrank, JB Andrews, MD (44:35)
(20th place) - A1C Anene Ifeyinwa, JBPH-Hickam, HI (45:39)
NAVY:
1st place - LT Gina Slaby (38:47)
8th place - LT Amanda Rice, Port Hueneme Naval Base, CA (41:36)
11th place - LT Susan Richardson, AIRTEVRON ONE, Patuxent River, MD (42:400
18th place - LCDR Laura Springer, USCG Station Portland, OR (45:13)
(21st place) - ENS Rachel Slater, NAS Corpus Christi, TX (46:36)
(22nd place) - ENS Meghan Conner, NAS Whiting Field, Milton, FL (47:46)
MARINE CORPS:
6th place - Capt Christine Taranto, NPS Monterey, CA (40:45)
14th place - Capt Angelica Valdez, MCB Quantico, VA (44:42)
17th place - 1stLt Mollie Hebda, MCB Pendleton, CA (45:05)
19th place - SSgt Sara Pacheco, MCB Butler, Japan ((45:27)
MEN'S ARMED FORCES TEAM SCORING SUMMARY (10K)
(Note: Team determined by adding the displacement finish of top five of seven runners)
ARMY:
1st place - SPC Hillary Bor (32:37)
2nd place - SPC Emmanuel Bor (32:39)
4th place - 2LT Trevor Lafontaine, Fort Leonard Wood, MO (34:09)
5th place - SPC Julius Bor, Fort Carson, CO (34:18)
8th place - SPC Jose Campos, Fort Bliss, TX (35:02)
(10th place) - CPT Kenneth Foster, Fort Carson, CO (35:24)
(13th place) - Japheth NG'Ojoy, Fort Wainwright, AK (36:07)
NAVY:
3rd place - LT Will Christian (33:40)
9th place - LT Patrick Fernandez, ICC Washington, D.C. (35:19)
11th place - LT Justine Lutz, ONI-0397 Newport, RI (35:26)
14th place - Kevin Schwartz, VP-47 Honolulu, HI (36:27)
15th place - GSM2 Justin Turner, NOSC Pensacola, FL (36:39)
(16th place) - LCDR Steven Slaby, NMBC 18, Bremerton, WA (36:39
(25th place) - BM3 Alan Neilson, USCG Stations Coos Bay, OR (40:30)
MARINE CORPS:
7TH place - Capt John Barrett, MCB Pendleton, CA (34:48)
12th place - 2ndLt Kyle King, MCB Pendleton, CA (35:54)
18th place - Capt Luke Rodina, Fort Meade, MD (37:25)
19th place - Capt Pedro Rodriguez, Albuquerque, NM (37:45)
20th place - Cpl Michael Siringer, MCB Lejeune, NC (37:51)
(23rd place) - Joseph Galvin, MCB Lejeune, NC (39:02)
AIR FORCE:
6th place - 2ndLt Isaiah Bragg, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH (34:20)
17th place - 1stLt Sawyer Koops, Ramstein AB, Germany (37:12)
21st place - Capt Jason Brosseau, Peterson AFB, CO (38:00)
22nd place - LtCol Douglas Wickert, National Defense Univ, D.C. (38:17)
24th place - SSgt Matthew Klundt, Fresno, CA (39:56)
(26th place) - LtCol Mark Cucuzzella, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH (41:51)
Information compiled by Ken Polk, Armed Forces Sports
Quotes obtained by Mr. Tim Hipps, IMCOM Public Affairs
Photos by Mr. Tim Higgins, All-Army Sports