Wednesday, May 26, 2004

Fayetteville resident stakes claim in desert march

Matthew White of Fayetteville, Ga., spent March 21 in the New Mexico desert, competing in a 26.2-mile road march, placing third in his category.

White, a 20-year-old sophomore majoring in English at North Georgia College & State University, competed among 3,000 participants in the 15th Annual Bataan Memorial Death March at the White Sands Missile Range. The event commemorates the military's heroic service in defending the Philippine Islands during World War II. Part of a "lightweight coed" team of five, White completed the desert trek in six hours "flat." The group members crossed the finish line together to secure the bronze medal.

The NGCSU Ranger Challenge team, the ROTC unit that participated in the event, plans to send more teams to the annual competition. This was the first time Ranger Challenge participated in the marathon.

To train for the event, 15 NGCSU military students kept in peek physical condition, road-marching in groups as early as February. They increased the distances they marched each weekend leading up to the desert marathon, putting in several hundred hours of practice.

North Georgia College & State University is a public, co-educational, comprehensive university, as well as the Military College of Georgia. The university, founded in 1873 in Dahlonega, offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in more than 50 academic and professional fields, with 4,500 students enrolled. More than 500 students participate in the award-winning Corps of Cadets.