LAS VEGAS, NV - The World Finals of the Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge happen once a year, this time in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 7-13, 2004.  A team of five Charlotte Firefighters travelled to Sin City to compete for the title.

One hundred twenty-six teams from as far away as Germany and England gathered to compete in a week-long event that tests physical strength and endurance as much as it tests mental endurance.  The Charlotte team trained for months in preparation for the finals, where they had never finished higher than the final 32 in the team relay competition.

After several days of intense individual competition, Friday rolled around, and the top 64 teams were placed into single elimination brackets to compete for the team relay title.  In the first round, Team Charlotte crossed the finish line two seconds ahead of their competitors.  The next raced would prove to be a heart-stopper, with Team Charlotte coming from behind to beat the competition by three tenths of a second.  Sadly, Team Charlotte was eliminated in the third race, losing to two-time defending world champions, Windsor.  Not to be discouraged, the team still viewed the loss as a victory--making it to the 'sweet sixteen' was the highest any team from Charlotte had ever placed.  Incidentally, Windsor went on to win their third world title.

Five days of competition left the team tired and sore, but their final challenge remained--the individual team competition on Saturday.  Each team member runs the course on their own, and the individual times are added together for the final team score.  In the end, two team members posted personal best times, giving Team Charlotte a total time of 5:18, and earning them the rank of 19th in the world, higher than any other Charlotte team ever! 

Congratulations to Charlotte Firefighters Aaron Lovett, David Bowman, Jason Foster, Cory Schelhase, and Brian Honeycutt for their success at the World Finals of the Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge. 

The Challenge will be aired on ESPN 2 on December 19 and 22 and on January 22.  Tune in to see your Charlotte Firefighter Challenge Team in action.