Cadets to highlight the colors at the Duke's Mayo Bowl game
Cadets Catherine Nishimuta, Ryan Kincaid, and Jaclyn Heaney will travel with the Hokies to receive the flags at Friday’s bowl game in Charlotte.
The passing of the flags during the pre-game ceremonies was a continuation of the proud partnership between the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets and Virginia Tech football to highlight the colors at every football game.
During games, three football players, chosen because of their performance in the last game or at practice, carry the American flag, the state flag, and the team’s spirit flag and lead the team onto the field. They deliver the flags to cadets at the south end of the field.
The cadets, also selected based on their performance in the corps, render honors to the flags and carry them off the field. For home games, three first-year cadets are selected, and one or two upper-class cadets travel with the team and receive the flags at away games.
Nishimuta, from Clover, South Carolina, is a member of Foxtrot Company and Air Force ROTC. Ranked in the top third of her peers, Nishimuta consistently demonstrates leadership and initiative. As a fire team leader, she mentors her team daily, ensuring their success both before and after morning formation. Nishimuta is a sophomore majoring in psychology in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences and is a member of the VTCC Rappel Tower Committee and the Robert Femoyer Service Squadron.
Kincaid is an industrial and systems engineering major in the College of Engineering and a member of Naval ROTC. In the corps, he has served as the Kilo Company first sergeant and the 3rd Battalion adjutant. In his role as adjutant, he applied new layers of data analytics to track wellness and accountability trends across his battalion, showing a sustained pattern of outstanding effort and attention to detail. Kincaid, from Kernersville, North Carolina, has been selected to serve as Mike Company commander for the spring semester.
Heaney, from Mooresville, North Carolina, is a member of Delta Company and Air Force ROTC majoring in national security and foreign affairs in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. An exemplary junior in the Corps, she has been selected to serve as Delta Company’s first sergeant next semester and is consistently rated as the top cadet in her company by her peers, leaders, and subordinates.
