Altus Firefighters Team Dr. Pepper Sweep Arkansas Regional Competition

             The Altus Firefighters took Little Rock, Arkansas by storm over the Memorial Day weekend. The Firefighter Combat Challenge competition was held during Riverfest and Altus Team Dr. Pepper swept the field to take first and second place in the Streamlight relay competition. Ten fire departments representing six states were on hand to go head to head in the fire related obstacle course that tests strength and stamina.

Team Dr. Pepper #1 set the pace early in the qualifying round by running a 1:24.23and beating Memphis, Tennessee by 10 seconds.  The run was the 7^th fastest time in the U.S. this year and earned them a #1 seed and new team record. Team Dr. Pepper #2 ran a 1:35 to earn a #3 seed. This turned out to be the slowest they would run all day.  In the eight team tournament bracket, Team 2 beat Little Rock, Arkansas, and McKinney, Texas to advance to the finals. Team 1 had to go through Sylacauga, Alabama and Corinth, Mississippi to set up an all Altus final pitting Team Dr. Pepper #1 against Team Dr. Pepper #2.

The tournament runs were back to back to back with no rest. The 5 story tower would eventually be too much for Team #2 as they only had one tower climber. Team #1 was able to rotate positions and spell their tower climber on one run. This would prove to be the difference, as team #1 would build a lead early and finish 5 seconds ahead. “

“I’ll never forget looking back and seeing Steven Davis and Tim Sullivan side by side at the head of the dummies,” said Chief Kenny Ward. “It was awesome to see an all Altus final.”

“We had set that goal early in the season. Both teams reached the final four together in Grapevine,” said Jimmy Rogers, “so it was a great feeling to finally reach the finals together. It was a win-win situation.”

Team members include Team Dr. Pepper #1: Jimmy Rogers, Randy Gipson, Kenny Ward, Eric Madden, Tim Sullivan, and unable to make the trip, Greg Nettleton. Team Dr. Pepper #2: Chris Brewer, Joe Buchanan, Howard Hicks, Scott Tripp, and Steven Davis.

The relay teams also competed in Grapevine Texas two weeks ago and finished third and fourth. Their next competition will be in August in New Orleans. They have both qualified for the World Championships in Memphis, Tennessee.

Tommy Sadler, meanwhile, competed in the 50 and over division and earned a second place finish with a time of 2:51. This was his first competition since competing in the NFL Players Association Heroes Challenge in Woodbridge, Virginia where he ran a 2:44 and finished 5th.

Team Dr. Pepper #1 also competed in the event that is scheduled to air sometime this summer on ESPN. Tommy’s next competition will be the World championships in Memphis, Tennessee in November. He finished 9^th in the world last year and looks to improve on his time.

“I have a lot of work to do this summer,” said Tommy. “I hope to cut about 10-12

seconds off of my time to get under 2:30. It’s going to be tough, but with the help and support of the guys, I can do it.”

You can follow event results for the Firefighter Combat Challenge at http://www.firefighter-challenge.com/ and Team Dr. Pepper’s site at http://altuscct.20.com.