It was a chilly Saturday morning when Army ROTC members from nearby universities arrived to compete against TCU members in the inaugural “Horned Frog Challenge.”

UNT and Baylor Army ROTC members competed against TCU in a six-event challenge. Sgt. 1st Class John Thompson organized the event.

The events included an army physical fitness test, Kim’s game, one rope bridge, casualty evacuation, grenade throw and a six mile ruck march.

“We want our students to receive year-round training, so we decided to put this together last minute,” Thompson said.

Each school was represented by a nine-member team with at least one female and one cadet from each class.

Members arrived at 8 a.m. in full uniform carrying a 35 lb. equipment bag. Each of these events would test their mental and physical skills.

“We have been training and rucking for the past month now,” said Alex Ghozeil, a first-year Army ROTC cadet. “It is a lot of working out and tactical skills.”

The day started with an army physical fitness test at the track. The test included sit-ups, pushups and a two-mile run.

TCU came in first.

The Kim’s game challenge was next.

The Kim’s game is a memory game that develops a person’s ability to observe and remember details. Each school had two minutes to observe objects on a tarp. At the end of the day, they would have to recall what was on the tarp and be specific.

Baylor won the challenge.

The location was then moved to the Physical Plant lot for the one rope bridge event.

Each school competed for the best time to get all team members across the rope and back. This tested their physical skills, use of judgment and knot tying.

TCU had the fastest time with 18:38.

The casualty evacuation event tested the teams’ first-aid skills. Each team was timed to assemble a stretcher and carry a team member down Frog Alley.

UNT took first with a time of 9:28.

The day warmed up at the start of the grenade throw event at the intramural fields.

An obstacle course was arranged for members to run through. Teams threw grenades into the designated targets.

TCU took first with a time of 8:15.

The challenge ended in a six-mile ruck march in Trinity Park. Each team lined up with their 35 lb. bags on their backs.

Baylor won with a time of 1:06:08

ROTC members then returned to the University Recreation Center for a 100-question test. They were tested on material that members learned while going through the ROTC program.

Thompson said these events were created to replicate real life military situations and that teamwork was very important.

“College students are used to doing things on their own, and we try to overload them where they cannot get things done on their own,” Thompson said. “They have to work with the team in order to get it accomplished and make them understand that this is the way they have to operate out there with their leader and soldiers.”

The individual wins were averaged together for the final score.

Despite the chilly weather, TCU was able work together during these tasks for the overall win.

“We have practiced in worse weather,” Ghozeil said. “We were going to be fine today.”

Thompson said that he hopes to continue this next year with more schools participating.