ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Cody Colyer of Mancos, successfully completed four years of challenging academic, physical and professional military training, graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy on May 22, with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and a commission as a U.S. Navy ensign.

He is a 2011 graduate of Mancos High School.

At the academy, Colyer was a member of the FSAE Race Car Team and will graduate in the top 8 percent of his class academically. Prior to entering the fleet, Colyer will earn a master's degree at the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, Calif.

Founded in 1845, the Naval Academy today is a prestigious four-year service academy that prepares midshipmen morally, mentally and physically to be professional officers in the naval service.

More than 4-,400 men and women representing every state in the U.S. and several foreign countries make up the student body, known as the Brigade of Midshipmen. Each year, about 1,200 young men and women are admitted to the Naval Academy's incoming class. U.S. News and World Reports has recognized the Naval Academy as a top five undergraduate engineering school and a top 20 best liberal arts college. Midshipmen learn from military and civilian instructors and participate in intercollegiate varsity sports and extracurricular activities. They also study subjects like leadership, ethics, small arms, drill, seamanship and navigation, tactics, naval engineering and weapons, and military law.

Upon graduation, midshipmen earn a bachelor's degree in a choice of 25 different subject majors and go on to serve at least five years of exciting and rewarding service as commissioned officers in the U.S. Navy or U.S. Marine Corps.

The academy's more than 81,000 alumni include one president, 21 members of Congress, five governors, 73 Medal of Honor recipients, two Nobel Prize winners, 52 astronauts and 4,000 admirals and generals.