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'Mosquito Wing' flies high for Air Force team

  • Published
  • By Karen Abeyasekere
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE MILDENHALL, England (AFPN) --  At 20 years old, Savanna Duchala is the youngest and lowest-ranking person on the U.S. Air Force Track and Field Team. Nicknamed "Mosquito Wing" because of her one stripe, Duchala recently competed in the CC-Air Headquarters Ramstein Track and Field Inter-Nation Track and Field Championships.

During the championships at Royal Air Force Cosford, England, she raced against more seasoned and experienced runners on air force teams from Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and England.

Duchala, from the 100th Mission Support Squadron military personnel flight, has been stationed here for four months, and is new to both the Air Force and her job.

To qualify for the Air Force team, Duchala had to send in her times from previous races. Only the top two competitors in each event were accepted.

She competed during junior high school and college, and in 2000 placed fifth in California in the 400-meter race.

"I was so shocked, especially to hear my times were good enough," Duchala said. "There are Olympic and world-class athletes on this team. I just thought 'Wow!' Just to be running with them was a great privilege for me, and it's such a great opportunity."

However, it wasn't all good news.

The California native is a 400- and 800-meter runner, but found out neither of those events were in the championships at RAF Cosford.

"I found out the meet had just two running events -- the 100 meters and 1,500 meters," she said. "The people in charge accepted me to go, knowing I'm a 400- and 800-meter runner. I was told I would be running the 100 meters.

"One of the assistant coaches, (Master Sgt. William Cobb, 100th Maintenance Squadron), worked with me on the shorter distance, because it was much less than I was used to. While practicing, I didn't work on anything else except my speed work. Running 100 meters is totally different from running 400 and 800 meters. You have speed muscles and running muscles, and each are used differently, depending on the distance you're running," she said.

Coach Cobb says he has high hopes for his protegé.

"I think of Savanna as a diamond being discovered," he said. "She popped up out of nowhere, and she's a very talented young lady. I think she has a very bright future with the Air Force Track and Field Team. She's very attentive to what you tell her. She's easy to work with, and always gives 100 percent. You can't ask for more than that," he said.

The day before she left for the competition, after training hard for the 100-meter event, she got a call from the head track coach.

"He told me I'd actually be running the 1,500-meter event, which was bad news for me as I hadn't been working on that," she said. "The 1,500 is 60 meters short of a mile -- I wasn't prepared for that at all.

"So I went along, just hoping for the best, but knowing I was going to run my hardest, do the very best I could, have fun, and gain experience while I was there," she said.

Even without training for it, Duchala still ran her 1,500 meters in 5:33.57.

Once at RAF Cosford, the 26-member team -- consisting of eight women, 18 men and four coaches -- traveled daily by bus to Oxford University to practice on the track there.

"It was me and one other Air Force team member running the 1,500 meters together," Duchala. "We became good friends and ran around Oxford together while we were training. As a team, we had a very good bonding experience. We hung out together, ate together and became pretty close."

Finding out that the distance she would be running was 15 times the distance she'd been training for might have given many a negative outlook on the whole experience, but it didn't phase Duchala.

Luckily, she practiced distance running prior to joining the team, so the only challenge was improving her speed. Coach Cobb got her to work on her pace and advised her to sprint at the end.

During the race, Duchala concentrated intently on keeping the pace at which she was trained. She proved her resolve when a German air force competitor started edging past her on the last lap.

"Everyone was cheering for me, and I decided I was going to beat her," she said. "During the last 100 meters of the race, I kicked it in, started sprinting and overtook her, beating her by about 40 yards.

"I was very proud of my race. Next year, I'll come back stronger. There's talk of adding the 800-meter event next year, and that's my race. I know how to train for it, and I know how to run it," said Duchala.

Coach Cobb was impressed with the young Airman.

"Her effort in this race is a direct reflection on how she's willing to go the extra mile for the team, rather than having her own agenda," he said. "That's what it takes these days to become a top-class athlete.

Though running for the Air Force team is a huge deal to her, the young Airman still has many priorities in her life, one of which is her job.

"I'm new to the Air Force and still trying to learn my job," she said. "I have to spend much of my time doing that, but I do plan to run in the competition again next year."

The inter-nation event is held in a different country each year.

"I've met the greatest people from different countries, and I still keep in touch with many of them. They'll all probably be back again next year, which I'm looking forward to."