The Florida Wing’s representatives in Civil Air Patrol’s National Cadet Competition topped the 16-team, 96-cadet field this year, with the Wesley Chapel Cadet Squadron’s cadets placing first overall and thePines-Miramar Cadet Squadron finishing second.

The Wisconsin Wing’s Milwaukee Composite Squadron 5 cadets finished third.

The Wesley Chapel and Miramar teams represented CAP’s Southeast Region in the competition. The Milwaukee squdaron represented the Great Lakes Region.

The following cadets made up the top three teams:

Wesley Chapel Cadet Squadron

  • Andrew Alayon

  • Emily Balling

  • Matthew Lewandowski

  • Francisco Pulgarin

  • Cassie Ramer

  • Elicia Smith

Pines-Miramar Composite Squadron

  • Attilio Bodden

  • Adam Cohen

  • Crystal Giron

  • Kyle Metts

  • Diego Ochoa

  • Sarah Valdivia

  • Dawson Pierce

Milwaukee Composite Squadron 5

  • Austin Ast

  • Katelyn Budzisz

  • Isabel Jimenez

  • Collin Nuss

  • Michaela Snead

  • Alec Stys

​The competition began Saturday and continued through Monday at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.

The six-cadet teams earned the right to attend by winning local, state and regional competitions. The participants demonstrated skills in events that involved precision and teamwork, including include indoor and outdoor color guard challenges, a written test of leadership and aerospace knowledge, a physical fitness test, team leadership problems (group problem-solving challenges) and a uniform inspection. The teams also participated in a pre-competition service project, as well as robotics, a panel quiz-style game and a test related to color guard drill.

Judges included members of the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Honor Guard and CAP officers and cadets.

“As its name implies, this is the premier CAP cadet competition of the summer,” said activity director Lt. Col. Robert Shaw. “These teams train and compete throughout the year in order to compete against the best in the nation.”

NCC is one of nearly 50 National Cadet Special Activities, or NCSAs, sponsored by CAP this summer. Each NCSA allows young men and women ages 12-20 to hone their skills in specific areas like search and rescue, flight and emergency services, science, leadership fundamentals, citizenship and military courtesies, and gives them the opportunity to explore aerospace technology, STEM and aviation careers.

Last year, more than 1,500 youth participated in CAP-sponsored NCSAs.

In addition to the top three finishers, 2018 National Cadet Competition participants were:

Great Lakes Region

Kentucky WingKyang Composite Squadron

  • Isaac Dowell

  • Micah Ehrman

  • Ian Guerrero

  • Yonas Monks

  • Katharine Middleton

  • Dawson Pierce

Middle East Region

North Carolina Wing111th Search and Rescue Composite Squadron

  • Natalia Bakker

  • Isaac Friday

  • Dylan Gulla

  • Larrabee Hoelscher

  • Elijah Johnson

  • Lillie Mounce

National Capital WingArlington Composite Squadron

  • Damion Colgrove

  • Orion Colgrove

  • Delgado Schwartz

Challenger 1 Composite Squadron

  • Faizan Khurshid

  • Caden Nimmo

  • Gabriel Ramiscal

North Central Region

Minnesota WingAnoka County Composite Squadron

  • Cameron Dahlstrom

  • Carter Dahlstrom

  • Cally-Ann Jacobson

  • Iva Hammitt-Kess

  • Evan McNair

  • Levi Voit

Missouri WingWentzville Composite Squadron

  • Zachary Bray

  • Zane Doering

  • Katherine Hassinger

  • Reagan Hess

  • Lily Reid 

  • Justin Smith

South Dakota WingBig Sioux Composite Squadron

  • Lydia Klosterman

Sioux Falls Composite Squadron

  • Sydnie Cloutier

  • Micah Healy

  • Noah Healy

  • Kaleb Sarchet

  • Peter Willison

Northeast Region

New Jersey WingRaritan Valley Composite Squadron

  • Vaughn Colva

  • Joshua Contreras

  • Garrett Coyne

  • Joseph Kronmaier

  • Andrew Lu

  • Ihaab Majid

New York WingCol. Frances S. Gabreski Cadet Squadron

  • Kerri Campbell

  • Adrian Morales

  • Christopher Riley

  • Mairead Riley

  • Eric Vanek

  • Mary Vanek

Pacific Region

California WingSkyhawk Composite Squadron 47

  • Nathan Bierle

  • Ian Hamnquist

  • Max Maffitt

  • Alek Prom

  • Ethan Prom

  • Kaila Wright

Oregon WingSalem Composite Squadron

  • Austin Bannerman

  • Kristofher Coleman

  • Jacob Groux

  • James Groux

  • Ezra Oien

  • Gavyn Sabin

Rocky Mountain Region

Colorado WingVance Brand Cadet Squadron 

  • Taylor Billings

  • Hanna Burns

  • Timothy Stanford

  • Memphis Thomas

  • Sawyer White

  • Tanner White

Valkyrie Cadet Squadron

  • Anna Barrow

  • Christopher Rinaldi

  • Janet Sanner

  • Louis Stein

  • Gabriel Venegas

  • Kyle Vestecka

Southeast Region

Puerto Rico WingDr. Cesareo Rosa-Nieves Cadet Squadron

  • Abimael Acosta

  • Michael Brito

  • Stephanie Cedeno

  • Raul Gonzalez

  • Tiffany Medina

  • Andy Sanchez

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