Fort Gordon firefighters just keep on winning

Members of Fort Gordon's Combat Challenge Team have one goal this year.

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"We want to win it all," said Matt Williams, the assistant fire chief and one of the founding members of the team, which won several world titles at the Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge in November in Las Vegas.

Their wins were shown on the Versus cable network in January.

The Combat Challenge event is a timed race in which participants perform several tasks that firefighters do as part of their job. Wearing full gear, they climb a tower carrying a hose and then drag a 175-pound mannequin to safety, among other tasks.

The team competed April 19-21 in Gainesville, Fla., and won several events.

The tandem team of Anthony McMurtry and Brandon Cunningham ran a world-record time of 1:13, but a 5-second penalty marred their performance. Despite the penalty, the duo won the event with a time of 1:18. The world record is 1:17.

Cunningham has won the world individual title for two consecutive years.

Fort Gordon's other tandem team, Jeffrey Phillips and Tim Dines, finished second in the event.

The team also won the men's survivor relay with a time of 1:12.

Williams said the team plans to compete in several other tournaments before the nationals and world competition in the fall.

The team also plans to compete in the Canadian World Championships.

"They always come to our world event, but they don't get as many teams from here," he said.

Williams said the team is the strongest it's ever been.

"We have a team that can do it this year," he said.

Cunningham is looking for a three-peat in the individual category this year.

"I have to hit the course with no (mistakes)," he said.

In addition to his goal of winning again, Cunningham wants to break the world individual record of 1:19. His personal best is 1:24.

Williams said the team is looking for sponsors. Any business or individual interested in helping the team defray its travel expenses can call him at (706) 951-3462.

Reach Charmain Brackett at czbrackett@hotmail.com.