SWALLOWS GIRLS EXCEL AT REGIONAL GRADES |
| Posted by Rachael on Dec 20 2009 |
9 gymnasts from the Swallows of Helston Gymnastics Club travelled to Plymouth on Sunday 6th December 2009 to compete in the Regional Club Grades competition.
In the Grade 14 competition there were over 60 entrants, aged between 7 years and 9 years. These young gymnasts had to wait until 4pm to compete and the nerves were apparent.
Competing in their first ever South West competition, and a year young, were 7 year olds, Harly Beale, Jessica Hubbard and Phoebe Jenkin. The 3 girls were among the youngest in this event, but competed to a very high level throughout the event. Harly and Jessica made solid performances an all apparatus showing that they could compete against the best 8 year olds and gained passes with Distinction for all their efforts. Phoebe made some major errors on her Range & Conditioning, however, with all the other apparatus scores in excess of 12 marks ended up with a Highly Commended pass.
8 year old Maea Morgan also took Grade 14 and with outstanding precision was ranked in overall 2nd position with a total score of 63.55 out of a possible 65.00. A great result after a lot of hard training leading up to this event.
Taking Grade 13, were 9 year old Eleanor Lloyd and Heather Bolton. Both girls were well prepared and made some excellent performances throughout the event. Eleanor was ranked first on Vault, second on bars and joint first on Floor with team mate Heather. Heather made a near perfect performance for her Range & Conditioning earning herself first place and also a top spot ranking on Beam with a clean routine. Overall the two girls were place overall 1st, Heather, and 3rd, Eleanor and passed with Distinction.
10 year old, Libby Rescorla was the only gymnast from the Club in the Grade 12 event. Libby had an early start with a 9am competition, but handled the pressure admirably. Libby gained 1st place on Bars, 2nd on Floor and 3rd on Beam. But the best result of the day was for her Vault, where the judges were unable to deduct any faults and Libby was given a perfect score of 13.50 for this apparatus. Overall, Libby was ranked in 1st place with a Distinction. No other gymnast in this grade, earned a Distinction for their performance.
In the Grade 10 competition, Tegan Beale continued the Club’s tally with a Highly Commended pass. Unfortunately, Tegan narrowly missed the Distinction but nonetheless was ranked in overall first place with top performances on both Floor and Vault.
And finally, in the most difficult Grade, 9, 16 year old Ashleigh Mitchell made excellent routines to gain a Highly Commended pass. Ashleigh was ranked in 1st place for her Floor routine and was eventually place overall 2nd for a good day’s work.
Head Coach, Donna Thomas, said ‘ The weekend’s results were a great end to the competition season. All the gymnasts have been training so hard over the last three months in order to achieve their goal of passing their Grades. The youngest gymnasts were entered for the competition experience, however, all three handled the pressure very well and definitely did themselves and the Club proud. A total of 6 Distinctions and 3 Highly Commended passes were fantastic achievements and the girls and the coaches should be proud of their efforts.
We have also recently heard that the following gymnasts have also been selected to train with the Cornwall County Gymnastics Squad:
7 year olds – Harly Beale, Phoebe Jenkin and Jessica Hubbard
8 year old – Maea Morgan
9 year olds – Heather Bolton & Eleanor Lloyd
10 year old – Libby Rescorla
12 year old – Shauna Mitchell
13 year old – Nadine Carter
16 year old – Ashleigh Mitchell
The gymnasts are now looking forward to a short break over the Christmas period and back into training early in the New Year. Thanks to all the parents and the Coaches for all their support over the past year’.