CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Kylie Head and Christina Taylor were the two women to represent Austin Peay State University’s (APSU) ROTC Ranger Challenge team who competed in the Sandhurst competition at West Point University this month.

The competition included components of obstacle training, shooting qualifications and night navigation.

Kylie and Christina were the two rotating female primaries for the Sandhurst competition to represent APSU. Kylie is currently in the green to gold program and is stationed here at Fort Campbell with her husband. Kylie said that she just tried out her first year in the program to see if she could make the team.

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According to the rules of the competition one female has to be competing at all times, and Christina says the team placed the two women in the sections of the competition where they performed their best. Kylie took on the endurance-based challenges and Christina competed in the pistol qualification.

“I wanted to see what I was capable of. I wanted to challenge myself. Especially having someone like Kylie on the team, she pushed me most of the time. I see her pushing and I keep pushing,” Christina said.

Christina explained some of the challenges she faced in the competition.

“I had a hard time going up the hill and it was a timed event. Kylie is a great runner and I just ended up getting stuck at the end. I had two people behind me and they were like ‘give me your ruck, I’ll take your ruck, so you can sprint it when we go up that last part of the hill.’ For me I was like, guys, just leave me alone, I can do this,” she said. “But then the more I started to think about if I continued at the pace that it’s going to hurt our time. So, I ended up eating my pride and giving him my bags so that I could run up and catch up with the team.”

The Army announced in January of 2015 that women would be allowed for the first time ever to attend the Army’s Ranger course, and both women were asked if they were considering attending the school after graduating.

“Ever since I found out that they were starting to work females into it [ranger school] it has always been in the back of my mind. I have considered it obviously takes a lot more training than what we have done for this. It’s a whole different level. I wouldn’t compare them, but I have definitely considered it,” Kylie said.

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Kylie offered advice to women who are in the ROTC program thinking about joining their competition ranger team.

“I would say you just have to go for it, especially in this career field. Being in the military its always going to be less females then there are males and these days they are making the standards more equal across the board, so you really have to push yourself.”

“I don’t feel like I am looked upon as being weaker because I am female,” she said. “I make it a point to not be. I push myself hard because I don’t want to be the person that is blamed for something going wrong. I’m not as fast of a runner but I am stronger in other areas.”

Both women spoke highly of their team and the bond they have built with their peers.

“As a team we all do pretty well to keep it as fun as we can. Whether that’s joking with each other or giving each other a hard time,” Kylie said.

There are three other females that train with the team to prepare for competition. The team finished eighth among ROTC teams and 29th overall.

RELATED: Seven ‘Green to Gold’ soldiers help make up APSU’s Ranger Challenge team

For more information about the Sandhurst for 2019 visit the West Point website. Find more information about the Austin Peay team and program through the APSU ROTC website.