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Derby Air Cadets Sprint to 9th Consecutive Win

Article posted: May 21, 2008 by Sqn Ldr Wilson

126 (City of Derby) Sqn.

Congratulation 126 (City of Derby) Sqn.

For the ninth consecutive year, 126 (City of Derby) Squadron have won the South & East Midlands Wing Athletics Competition. The competition took place on Sunday 18th May at the Saffron Lane Athletics Stadium in Leicester.

The Cadets who represented the Derby Squadron performed extremely well in both the track and field events and eventually won the overall competition.
The Cadets walked away with 4 out of the 6 trophies available, winning the categories for Youths, Junior Men, Junior Women and the overall trophy. In the Junior Boys and Junior Girls categories, the Squadron came second.

For 126 Squadron, their continued success in the athletics competition is put down to hard training and a team spirit with a desire to win. During the competition, Derby squadron could be heard cheering on their team mates from all across the stadium. Flying Officer Jackie Barker, Media Communications Officer for 126 Squadron said, “We work hard to prepare our team for the athletics competition every year. This year we held a training night at our local athletics stadium. The whole Squadron took part. We were fairly confident that we would win the competition but ultimately, it is down to the effort that the Cadets put in on the day”.

The 126 squadron team was particularly successful in the long distance track events. A special mention must be given to Sergeant Ryan Kiddie who won both the 800m and 1500m in the Junior Men category. Sgt Kiddie knocked 3 seconds off the South & East Midlands record for the 800m and 18 seconds off the record for the 1500m.

Several Cadets from Derby will now compete for South and East Midlands Wing at a Regional competition on 21st June. These Cadets may eventually represent the Air Training Corps at a national level. Cadet Warrant Officer Matt Ireland said “it is an honour to represent 126 Squadron and the City of Derby at Athletics. I will be training hard to win my event at Region and get through to the national finals”.

Derby squadron is the only squadron in the history of South & East Midlands Wing to win the competition for 9 consecutive years. All Cadets on the Squadron now have their sights set on winning the event next year and making it ten in a row.

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