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Sparkling stars snap up silver medal at nationals
THE Scarborough Gymnastics Academy primary schools team claimed a superb silver medal while competing at the British National Team Gym Championships in Gloucester.
The Sparkles (primary schools) and All Stars (Junior girls) qualified to compete in the British finals after their successful performances at the Northern and Midlands Tournament in March.
The first competition was the primary girls competition for gymnasts aged between eight and 12 years.
The Scarborough Sparkles were up against tough competition from 10 other top qualifying teams from throughout the country, the majority of the teams coming from the South.
Scarborough were representing the North along with Newcastle, Diamonds (Halifax), Crewe and Nantwich.
The Scarborough team consisted of seven members and two reserves.
Members of the Scarborough Sparkles were Megan Woodward-Hay (11), Molly Owenson (11), Bethany Morley (11), Beate Richings (11) Amber Wilson (11), Jo Pattison (10) and Niamh Sweeney (10).
The reserves were Emily Hansell (10) and Caitlin Frith (9).
The Sparkles had a fantastic day, performing confidently and consistently throughout.
The initial sight of the large competition arena along with the event's formalities such as standing for the national anthem prior to the competition, created a few more nerves among the team than usual.
The team started their competition with their group floor routine, which was flawless and received a massive applause from the audience.
The team managed to score a fantastic 8.15 which secured first place on this piece of apparatus.
The team then moved on to perform their tumble routine, which they performed without any major faults or falls, scoring 6.70.
The routine included six gymnasts performing three separate tumbles in quick succession.
The tumbles included performing twisting and multiple somersaults in various shapes, straight, tuck and pike and using different directions.
They concluded their competition with their trampette routine; this involved six gymnasts performing two separate twisting somersaults from the trampette and one vault using the trampette. The team performed really well and scored 6.80.
The competition was extremely close, the primary team came an amazing second place overall, earning the team a British medal with a stunning score of 21.65.
This result was fantastic for not only the Scarborough club but for the whole Northern region, as the Southern teams usually dominate the British medal positions.
The Junior girls team were next to compete, the team of eight members and one reserve aged between 12 and 16 were representing the North.
The Scarborough All Stars faced additional strong competition from qualifying teams from the North and South.
The Scarborough All Stars consisted of: Meg Locker (15), Elenor Lockey (16), Amber Atkinson (13), Megan Richardson (13), Millie Bell (13), Zoe Pindar (12), Cana Machen (13) Bobbie Moorhouse (12).
The reserve was Rebecca Lockwood (13).
The team opened their competition with their tumble routine. The team did extremely well, earning them a respectable score of 6.70.
The team moved on to perform their trampette routine which was executed with confidence and excellent teamwork, earning them a score of 6.70.
Lastly the team moved onto perform their Brand new floor routine. The routine was performed with lots of energy and style.
The excellent teamwork throughout the routine earned the team a score of 7.70 and third place overall in the floor section.
The competition was a great experience for the Junior team, the All Stars were ranked a very respectable 10th place.
The competition was filmed and will appear on British Gymnastics TV in the next couple of weeks.
This can be accessed through the British Gymnastics website www.baga.co.uk
Team Coach Nikii Walker said "This is the third year Scarborough Academy have entered and qualified for this British level competition, and both teams have made great improvements since last year.
“Although Evy and I have every confidence in the gymnasts ability and performance, we knew we were up against tough competition from all the Southern teams as well as the other teams from the North.
She added: “This is the second time for Scarborough to be represented and to be awarded a British medal in a British National Gymnastics Championships at such a high level, so it is something for everyone to be proud of.
“The results from this competition are fantastic, and all the other Northern team were really supportive of each other and were pleased that a Northern team had managed to secure place in the medals. The gymnasts have all trained really hard this year and have all improved.
“Well done to everyone who took part, this is a great result for Scarborough, Yorkshire and the North, and puts Scarborough firmly on the map as an ongoing contender at a British National Level.
"The next team gym competition for both squads is the Newcastle Open Championships in July."
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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