PHILADELPHIA, PA - The Army West Point Cadets emerged victorious over the Naval Academy Midshipmen in the annual Patriot Games on Friday and Saturday.
The cadets and midshipmen competed in a total of five events. The first four were on Friday, December 8th, in various locations around Philadelphia.
The first event was the Rocky Relay, held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. This event consisted of a series of jump ropes and push-ups, followed by a race to the top of the museum steps. After a fierce competition, Navy won this event, putting them in the lead.
The second event was the Leadership Reaction Course. This three part course included completing a maze while blindfolded, constructing a puzzle of giant blocks, as well as a spelling race. When the scores were calculated and times of each event were factored in, Army won bringing the score to a tie.
The competitors then headed to the Shops at Liberty Place. The teams were greeted by fans and peers for a pep rally before the third event, a pull-up contest. With five minutes to do as many pull-ups as possible, Army won again by a slim margin of 251-249, bringing the record to 2-1.
Wrapping up Friday's events, both teams crossed the Ben Franklin Bridge to head into Camden, N.J., where the teams competed in a tug-of-war on the USS NJ Battleship. Army took this event, increasing their lead to 3-1.
With 25 points awarded for each event, the score for the day ended at 75-25.
The final event took place on-field at the Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday afternoon before kick off. The fifth event was an obstacle course which was won by Army and was worth 75 points. This brought the final score to 150-25, making the Cadets the official champions of the 2017 Patriot Games.
