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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The wounded warrior athletes pedaled distances ranging from 6.2 to 18.6 miles, each showing true to the phrase, “adapt and overcome.” On this day, competitors were able to live outside of the boundaries set by their injuries by changing the way they approached the sport of cycling.
Adapting to meet challenging circumstances is one thing Chief Petty Officer Javier Rodriguez Santiago has had to learn. In 2011, his world was shaken after being in a motorcycle accident which eventually led to a left above-the-knee amputation. Not wanting that to stop him from being active, he trained hard and his perseverance paid off when he placed second in his hand-cycling heat.
“Sports help with the recovery process big time,” he said. “I’m pretty sure you can ask anybody here … trying to figure out what to do to get off the couch and start moving, they can probably tell you that once they opened up to sports (things changed). They are like, ‘If I can do this, I can do anything,’ and it moves on from there.”
Like Santiago, the feeling of immeasurable possibility could be seen on the faces of the athletes. Even on the toughest hills where the wounded warriors pushed their muscles to exhaustion, many still sported grins as they embraced their road to recovery. At the end of each heat, medals were awarded to the victors, but just competing is enough for all the cycling participants.
Race results for the cycling competitions are as follows:
Mixed Handcycle
MH3
1. Angel Segarra - Navy
2. Andrew Evans – Air Force
MH4
1. Ryan Pinney – Air Force
2. Howard Sanborn – U.S. Special Operations Command
3. Edwin Quirosortiz – SOCOM
M/WH5
1. Justin Gaertner – SOCOM
2. Javier Rodriquez – Navy
3. Hector Varela – Navy
Open
1. David Neumer – SOCOM
2. Joshua Robistow – Air Force
Men’s Recumbent Cycle
1. Adam Vickery – Marines
2. Jason Blair – Army
3. Levi Marshall – Marines
Women’s Recumbent Cycle
1. Jennifer Kyseth – Air Force
2. Juantianne Saleigh – Marines
3. Jenae Piper – Marines
Women’s Open Bicycle
1. Katie Kuiper – Army
2. Samantha Goldenstein – Army
3. Ashley Ritchey – SOCOM
Men’s Open Bicycle
1. Mark Vomund – SOCOM
2. Mitchell Kieffer – Air Force
3. Jason Hoover – Air Force
Men’s Tandem
MVI Tandem
1. Ivan Castro/Richard Kirby – SOCOM
2. Sean Johnson/Greg Miller – Army
M Open Tandem
1. Wesley Glisson/James Bates – Air Force
2. Derek Liu/Maryann Miller – Marines
Men’s Physical Disability Bicycle
C4
1. Shawn Mello – SOCOM
2. Benjamin McCrosky – Marines
3. Stephen Toboz – SOCOM
C5
1. Jorge Avalos – Army
2. Francisco Lopez – Marines
3. Jerry Hochstedler – SOCOM
| Date Taken: | 09.29.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 09.30.2014 12:17 |
| Story ID: | 143781 |
| Location: | COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO, US |
| Web Views: | 76 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Cycling: Going for distance, going for speed, by SMSgt Jette Carr, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
