SDTW associate wins 4 medals in NM Senior Olympics

  • Published
  • By Steve Milligan
  • Nucleus Staff
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, New Mexico --  Virgie Henderson, Space Development and Test Wing Launch Test Squadron, recently competed in the New Mexico Senior Olympics winning four medals in two events.

Ms. Henderson has worked for several agencies on Kirtland AFB since 1984 when she transferred here from the Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif. She retired from government service earlier this year and now works for Tecolote Research Inc. providing contracting support to the SDTW.

"I've always been active in sports," Ms. Henderson said. "Tennis is my first love."

She started playing badminton a couple years ago at the Manzano Mesa Multigenerational Center and before she knew it, she was playing competitively in the New Mexico Games and local Olympics.
Just this year, she started playing pickleball (a new event in the Olympics).

"I took right to it because it's a lot like tennis," said Ms. Henderson. "So, this spring, I decided to enter the local Senior Olympics and qualified in singles and women's doubles in badminton and singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles in pickleball. In both events, I qualified to compete in the state Senior Olympics in Las Cruces."

However, on July 26 while attending an Isotopes game, a foul ball came into the stands and hit her left wrist resulting in a hairline fracture along with a lot of bruising and swelling.
Fortunately, being right handed, she decided to compete in the games with a splint on her left wrist and arm rather than let her partners down.

The games were played on July 31 and in her pickleball events she won a silver medal in singles, another silver medal in women's doubles and a bronze in mixed doubles.

On Aug. 1, she played her doubles event in badminton and won another bronze medal.

Ms. Henderson is now eligible to compete in the National games in San Francisco in 2009.

Virgie Henderson, Space Development and Test Wing's Launch Test Squadron here, displays three of her four medals won in the New Mexico Senior Olympics.