Naval Academy Class of 2011 climbs Herndon in 2:35:59

Naval Academy Midshipman 4th Class Greg Reichel completed the Herndon Climb in 2 hours 35 minutes and 59 seconds yesterday.

This year's event took more than an hour longer than last year's time of 1 hour, 32 minutes and 42 seconds.

Midshipman Reichel, a 6-foot, 6-inch tall volleyball player from Hummelstown, Pa., said he had the easiest part of the endeavor.

"I had the easy job," he said. "My classmates were the ones who held me up. It was great to get it done."

Each year, the roughly 1,000 members of the academy's freshman class form a human pyramid around the Herndon Monument. Various members of the class try to make it to the top to remove a plebe hat, or "dixie cup," that upperclassmen have taped to the top of the obelisk. The mid then replaces the hat with a midshipman's combination cover.

This year, both hats belonged to Midshipman 4th Class Kristen Dickmann, a freshman varsity volleyball player from Pennsylvania who died unexpectedly last week. Her funeral was on Wednesday at the Naval Academy Chapel, only a few yards away from the Herndon Monument in the chapel.

Midshipman Dickmann, a member of 21st Company, and Midshipman Reichel, a member of 11th Company, were good friends.

After the climb was completed yesterday and everyone had left to take showers and grab lunch, Midshipman Dickmann's hat remained alone at the top of the monument.

After the climb, Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Adm. Jeffrey L. Fowler presented Midshipman Reichel with an admiral's star, such as is worn on the collar, which had been mounted on a plaque.

In the past, the superintendent has presented the successful climber with a vice admiral's shoulder boards, but Adm. Fowler changed the ceremony this year because, according to an academy spokesman, shoulder boards are different for men and women's uniforms, but collar insignia are the same regardless of the officer's gender.

Three people were taken to Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore for treatment during yesterday's Herndon Climb.

According to the Naval Academy Fire Department, a 47-year-old woman was trying to take her seat on a wall in front of the chapel, when she fell about 7 feet.

Academy officials said late yesterday that her injuries were minor, and she was expected to be released yesterday.

Also, a female plebe was taken to Shock Trauma Center as a precaution after she complained of neck pain, an academy spokesman said, and a male mid was flown to Shock Trauma after suffering a neck injury and low blood oxygen levels.

Both mids were treated and discharged, the spokesman said.

Another mid was treated at the academy's medical facilities for a separated shoulder suffered during the climb, and nine mids were treated on-scene for minor injuries, such as scratches, fatigue and neck strain.

"Every year, there are a few bumps and bruises," said Cmdr. Ed Austin, an academy spokesman.

Academy officials have said they were concerned about safety during the climb, and they conducted a review of the event this year.

As a result, they assigned about 30 safety officers to help keep mids from engaging in dangerous activity when climbing the monument, and they also abolished the tradition of upperclassmen spraying the mids with a garden hose while they attempted the climb.

Among the spectators yesterday was Cmdr. Lorenzo Dialti, a member of the Italian Navy who is a visiting instructor at the academy.

Cmdr. Dialti said the Italian Naval Academy's freshman class is much smaller, with only about 150 members, but they also have a tradition to mark the end of their first year. They climb the rigging of a two-masted ship that's on the academy grounds and jump into a net below, he said.

"It's slightly shorter than the mast on the (Coast Guard) Eagle," Cmdr. Dialti said.

Crews on the Eagle often work 150 feet above the deck, according to Coast Guard.

The first plebes to charge the Herndon Monument yesterday were members of 20th Company, who were designated the "Iron Company" after finishing first in Tuesday's Sea Trials, a 14-hour physical and mental endurance test.

This was the first year in recent memory that the academy recognized a company for finishing first during Sea Trials.