Cadets from all over Cumbria & Lancashire Wing all descended onto the UCLan Sports Arena for the annual inter-squadron athletics competition – giving cadets the opportunity to not only compete against other squadrons but also meet friends from camps and other events. This year, however, the 471 Cadets had one aim – To claim the Weeton Cup!
The Weeton Cup is awarded to the squadron who gets the most points overall throughout the days procedures, and our strong sporting squadron were looking forward to the challenge of claiming one of the three biggest awards in the Wing sports calendar! However, the competitions were split into five age & gender categories – A (junior boys, 14 and under), B (under 17 men), C (above 17 men), D (junior girls) and E (senior girls).
Track Events: To start off with, Cadets Abram (A Category), Holohan (D Category) and Cadet Corporals Pym (B Category) & Cookson (E Category) had their 800m races, and Cadet Holohan & Corporal Cookson got 471 off to a flier – with a silver and bronze medal respectively.
Shortly after, Cadet Morris (A), Corporal Greenwood (B), Corporal Clifton (C) and Corporal Markey (D) competed in their 100m heats, with Markey & Clifton reaching the finals, to take place at the end of the day.
Then, Cadet Abram (A), Corporal Greenwood (B), Cadet Sherrington (D) and Flight Sergeant Brentley (E) had their 200m heats – Corporal Greenwood & Cadet Sherrington raced to their finals!
After a short lunch break, racing continued, with the 400m race – to be done purely on times. Cadet Gillions (A) ran his way to a silver medal, with Corporal Sherrington (B) blitzing his way to first place in his race, and overall! Cadet Holohan (D) and Cadet Cookson (E) also picked up medals, each earning a bronze in their races.
The longest distance of the day was firstly taken on by Cadet Gillions (A), who smashed the opposition, earning himself a gold medal. Corporal Sherrington (B) almost continued this, however he was just beaten, and ended up an outstanding second place, beaten by his sister, Cadet Sherrington (D) in her race, who saw off fierce competition by Cadet Howarth of 967 (BAe Warton) Squadron.
Shortly after, Cadet Morris (A), Corporal Greenwood (B), Corporal Clifton (C) and Corporal Markey (D) competed in their 100m heats, with Markey & Clifton reaching the finals, to take place at the end of the day.
Then, Cadet Abram (A), Corporal Greenwood (B), Cadet Sherrington (D) and Flight Sergeant Brentley (E) had their 200m heats – Corporal Greenwood & Cadet Sherrington raced to their finals!
After a short lunch break, racing continued, with the 400m race – to be done purely on times. Cadet Gillions (A) ran his way to a silver medal, with Corporal Sherrington (B) blitzing his way to first place in his race, and overall! Cadet Holohan (D) and Cadet Cookson (E) also picked up medals, each earning a bronze in their races.
The longest distance of the day was firstly taken on by Cadet Gillions (A), who smashed the opposition, earning himself a gold medal. Corporal Sherrington (B) almost continued this, however he was just beaten, and ended up an outstanding second place, beaten by his sister, Cadet Sherrington (D) in her race, who saw off fierce competition by Cadet Howarth of 967 (BAe Warton) Squadron.
At the end of the day, the 200m and 100m finals took place – Cadet Corporal Greenwood (B) crossed the line in fourth, before witnessing Cadet Sherrington (D) picking up her second gold of the day, after her 1500m success.
The 100m finals then took the crowds attention, with Cadet Corporal Clifton racing into a bronze medal finish, and Cadet Corporal Markey just beaten on the line, earning her a well-deserved silver
Field Events: During the excitement of the track events, there were five field events happening simultaneously.
In the A category, Cadet Greenwood picked up two medals – a gold and silver in javelin and long jump respectively, as well as strong performances by Cadet Lloyd in discus and Cadet Gaskell in high jump and shotput, with both these efforts resulting in silver medals!
In the B category, Corporal Sherrington jumped into fourth in long jump, with Cadet Corporals Pym (in discus and javelin) and Greenwood (in high jump) just missing out on medals.
Cadet Corporal Clifton earned two gold medals in his C category events, in discus and shotput.
In class C, Cadets Holohan & Sherrington picked up silver medals in discus and long jump respectively, and Corporal Markey earnt a gold in shot-put after beating the field with her three throws, as well as Cadet Trafford picking up a silver with her effort in javelin.
In the E category, Cadet Flight Sergeant Brentley (discus & javelin) and Corporal Cookson (long jump) tried hard in their events, but unfortunately didn’t pick up any silverware.
In the A category, Cadet Greenwood picked up two medals – a gold and silver in javelin and long jump respectively, as well as strong performances by Cadet Lloyd in discus and Cadet Gaskell in high jump and shotput, with both these efforts resulting in silver medals!
In the B category, Corporal Sherrington jumped into fourth in long jump, with Cadet Corporals Pym (in discus and javelin) and Greenwood (in high jump) just missing out on medals.
Cadet Corporal Clifton earned two gold medals in his C category events, in discus and shotput.
In class C, Cadets Holohan & Sherrington picked up silver medals in discus and long jump respectively, and Corporal Markey earnt a gold in shot-put after beating the field with her three throws, as well as Cadet Trafford picking up a silver with her effort in javelin.
In the E category, Cadet Flight Sergeant Brentley (discus & javelin) and Corporal Cookson (long jump) tried hard in their events, but unfortunately didn’t pick up any silverware.
Overall, the A category finished second, before B and D categories were announced as winners by the Wing Sports Officer – Warrant Officer Nash. C and E categories were unlucky not to place, but finished in eleventh and ninth respectively. This meant that overall, thanks to the combined effort by all cadets who attended, we finished in… Second place! Beaten only by 723 (Wigan) Squadron!
Keep an eye out on our Facebook page for the gallery! We have over 1,000 photos to go through, so it may be a while!
