31st FW units compete on sports day

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Katherine Windish
  • 31st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy --  More than 950 Team Aviano members proved victorious during a 31st Fighter Wing sports day tournament held at the Dragon Fitness Center here June 1 in which the 31st Civil Engineer Squadron emerged as the top large unit, while the 31st Operational Support Squadron earned first place among the smaller teams.

Hosted by the 31st Force Support Squadron and assisted by 66 base volunteers, the all-day event was put together to give the wing a chance to unwind and engage with each other through various physical fitness activities.

"It was a great day for sports," said Brig. Gen. Scott Zobrist, 31st FW commander. "It's great to see everyone out here participating. We work pretty hard, but we need to play hard too, whenever we can."

Events like this help bring the wing together and most units had representation in the sporting events, which included soccer, volleyball, tug-of-war, softball, kickball, golf, horseshoes, bocce ball, and three-on-three basketball. Hundreds of spectators cheered their fellow Airmen on during the sumo wrestling event while sharing burgers and laughs.

"[The sports day] gave us some time off work to get out and play some sports against other squadrons and I thought it was a really great time," said Senior Airman Tiana Anderson, 31st Logistics Readiness Squadron, who participated in the volleyball competition.

Senior Master Sgt. Michael Diaz, 31st Security Forces Squadron first sergeant, echoed Anderson's words stating he only saw smiles on the faces of Airmen as he walked around and spoke with everyone involved.

"A day when you're not behind a desk or turning a wrench or defending the base [and instead] you get to come out and participate in some of the events and get some rivalry going between the units, [it's] fantastic," said Diaz.

Winners of the events are as follows:
Soccer
1st place: 31st Munitions Squadon
2nd place: 31st Logistics Readiness Squadron
3rd place: 31st Communications Squadron

Cornhole
1st place: 31st Security Forces Squadron
2nd place: 31st Civil Engineer Squadron
3rd place: 31st Maintenance Squadron

Golf
1st place: 31st MUNS
2nd place: 31st Medical Group
3rd place: 31st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron

Obstacle Race
1st place: 31st MDG
2nd place: 31st SFS
3rd place: 8th Air Support Operations Squadron

Dodgeball
1st place: 31st MDG
2nd place: 31st CS

Kickball
1st place: 31st AMXS
2nd place: 31st SFS
3rd place: 31st CES

Volleyball
1st place: 31st CES
2nd place: 31st Operations Group
3rd place: 31st AMXS

Tug-of-War
1st place: 31st CES
2nd place: 31st SFS
3rd place: 31st MDG

Basketball
1st place: 31st Operational Support Squadron
2nd place: 31st AMXS
3rd place: 31st MXS

Softball
1st place: 31st MUNS (A team)
2nd place: 31st MUNS (B team)
3rd place: 31st Maintenance Operations Squadron

Bocce Ball
1st place: 31st CES
2nd place: 31st SFS
Tennis - Doubles
1st place: 31st CS
2nd place: 31st Mission Support Group
3rd place: 31st CES

Bicycle Race
1st place: Maj. Joseph Williams, 31st MDG
2nd place: Capt. Peter Boardman, 31st SFS
3rd place: Master Sgt. Augustin Nazario-Richard, 31st MXS

Bench Press
1st place: Staff Sgt. Brent Hart, 31st CES
2nd place: Maj. Gordon Hazlette, 31st MDG
3rd place: Tech. Sgt. David Congress, 31st OSS

5-Kilometer Run
1st place: 1st Lt. Nicolas Velati, 603rd Air Control Squadron
2nd place: Airman 1st Class Steven Freund, 31st SFS
3rd place: Staff Sgt. Christian Gomez, 31st SFS

Tennis - Singles
1st place: Alfredo Marchiori, 31st CES
2nd place: Airman 1st Class John Scheiber, 31st SFS

Fire Fit Challenge (Males)
1st place: Airman 1st Class Beecher, 8th ASOS
2nd place: 1st Lt. Nathan Aiken, 31st SFS
3rd place: Capt. Louis-Philippe Noel, 31st SFS

Fire Fit Challenge (Females)
1st place: Lynette Cullins, 31st OSS
2nd place: Airman 1st Class Kayla Drummond, 31st OSS
3rd place: Staff Sgt. Xanadu Moldenhauer, 31st OSS