WSG news archive 2005
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English National Championships 2005 IMOGEN CAIRNS WINS ALL AROUND TITLE AT ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIPS CITY OF LIVERPOOL DOUBLE SUCCESS AS HANNAH AND JODIE CLAIM GOLD AND SILVER IN JUNIORS! A fantastic English Women’s Artistic Championships, brilliantly hosted by Wiltshire School of Gymnastics took place on Sunday saw Imogen Cairns win the English Championships Senior Title by a margin of 1.7 points with an excellent performance. The Championships were also the second trials for the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne next year and despite a number of senior and junior gymnasts having to withdraw due to injury, the girls were determined to seize their opportunity to secure a place on the English Commonwealth Team and a place on the podium. City of Liverpool Juniors Hannah Clowes and Jodie Standish had a terrific battle for the Junior Title as they were neck and neck throughout the day with Hannah claiming the Junior English Title in an a gripping competition. Imogen and Hannah had led their Age Groups in last month’s Alpha Factor Cup, and both girls have boosted their chances of selection with Imogen in particular almost guaranteeing her place in front of Adrian Stan. Many of the gymnasts had competed in the British Championships, and included many top Seniors and Juniors including Beth Tweddle, Imogen, Leigh Rogers, Nina Dearman and Emma Jagger in Seniors. The Junior Event included British Championships All Around Silver medallist Laura Jones and bronze medallist Abi Kirby with her Liverpool team mates Hannah Freeman and Jodie Standish, plus Heathrow’s trio of Amy Nunes, Becky Wing and Jessica Hawkins. Other top Juniors were Hannah Freeman from Sapphire, Zoe Allen from Wigan, Amy Fossheim from South Durham, Lily Black from Pipers Vale and Francesca Humphries from South Essex. Becky Downie was due to compete with Notts team mate Jordan Lipton and new All Around North European Champion Lynette Lisle also invited to guest, but sadly the girls had to withdraw, and home fans were disappointed that Jessica Coombs and Shannon Morse from Wiltshire SOG were both injured just days before the Championships, but the audience cheered when it was announced that three time British Champion Beth Tweddle would be competing on her trademark A Bars after she was not included in the original program. The morning’s Juniors and Seniors put in some good performances but as in the British Championships, beam again proved to be the weakest event with a number of wobbles and falls, with some notable exceptions. In contrast, there were some great performances on Vault and Floor with excellent choreography and good choice of music by gymnasts and coaches. We sat with a lovely group of young fans from OLGA complete with pommels who formed their own fan club to support Natalie Wilson, Leah Jacobs and Becky House And as the morning progressed a buzz suddenly went around the crowd when first Heathrow, then Notts School of Gymnastics and finally City of Liverpool led by Beth Tweddle entered the arena. As the competitors moved to Bars, the crowd were on the edge of their seats as Abi Kirby hit her full twisting giant, Tkatchev with back in full to finish and an 8.250, followed by Hannah Clowes and Jodie Standish who scored 8.600 and 8.550 to win Individual medals and set up a terrific competition. Hannah and Jodie were in a terrific battle as they moved to Vault with both girls scoring 8.90 with straight Yurchenko’s and the highest scores in the Competition to share the Individual Vault Title with Amy Nunes performing her half twisting Yurchenko to land bronze just one tenth of a point behind. On Floor Amy Fossheim began with a one and a half followed by two and a half twists with a high double pike to finish an excellent routine and 8.80 to win the English Floor Title, closely followed by Sapphire’s Hannah Freeman who displayed powerful tumbling and terrific technique to win Silver with 8.500. Laura Jones included double pike and triple twist while Abi Kirby was unfortunate to step out on her two and a half twists after a promising start, and Zoe Allen also stepped out twice with her powerful tumbling runs. Hannah Clowes stepped up as anticipation grew amongst the audience, and Hannah responded with a Full In, double pike to finish with 2 and a half twists for a score of 8.200 to Jodie’s 8.200, and cheers from their team mates. Hannah Freeman was just behind both girls and she performed superbly on beam holding her nerves with great lines to win the Beam Title with her 8.650, closely followed by Heathrow’s Amy Nunes who was just five hundredths of a point behind on 8.600 and Natalie Wilson from OLGA bronze to the delight of her supporters. Laura Jones began well on beam but was unlucky to come off the end on her front somi. The bravest performance of the Championships came from Grace Imerson from City of Newcastle who just missed her release and catch on Bars to fall flat on her back. As the crowd held their breath, Grace bravely got to her feet and continued her routine despite being obviously still in discomfort for the rest of the Championships, and she fully deserved the cheers and applause for her gutsy determination. Sadly Becky Wing had to withdraw after her excellent bars routine and had to ice her foot, and she must have been so disappointed after missing British due to injury. Get well soon Becky! In Seniors three gymnasts really stood out from the pack. Defending English Champion Nina Dearman was determined to make it 2 year’s in a row in Commonwealth Trials but Imogen was simply stunning on floor where her floor included began with full in back out, followed by double Arabian tucked, two and a half to straight front with a huge triple twist to finish had the crowd cheering her fantastic performance ahead of next week’s Glasgow World Cup. And her score of 8.700 seemed set to win the Floor Title. But Nina Dearman was not going to give up her Title without a fight, and her great performance gave her an 8.800 and the English Championships Floor Title. As the gymnasts moved to Vault, Imogen responded with a one and a half twisting Yurchenko and full twist on to pike off with clean landings as her fellow competitors applauded a great score of 8.950 with Heathrow’s Leigh Rogers and Emma Beales from Dynamo tying for the Silver medals with both girls scoring 8.85. The beam routines again included some falls but Imogen won this comfortably with a 8.200, with Katrina Cella from Lynx winning Silver with 7.800, and Leigh, Nina & Emma all tieing for bronze. On to Bars and Beth Tweddle stepped up to hit a great routine which everyone in the arena just stopped to admire but Beth seemed slightly disappointed with her score of 9.15 ahead of next month’s World Championships, and Imogen claiming Silver with 8.450. It was great to see so many fans surround Beth and 17 year old Sam Bayley who is currently on crutches after she fractured her tibia during the build up to the World Championships Trials after landing with straight legs on her double Arabian at Lilleshall. Sam told me that she hopes to be back in a month and both girls spent lots of time chatting to fans and signing autographs. I passed on our best wishes to Sam from all of her gym fans. As the medal ceremony drew near, the commentator from Wiltshire built the atmosphere nicely, as he announced Juniors in 6th position Zoe Allen with a score of 32.600, in 5th place from City of Liverpool Abi Kirby with 32.650, 4th place goes to Heathrow’s Amy Nunes with 32.850. In bronze position from Sapphire Hannah Freeman on 32.950 and the commentator paused at just the right moment as City of Liverpool celebrated double medal success, the Silver medal goes to Jodie Standish and the new English Junior Champion 2005 is Hannah Clowes! As we moved to Seniors, would Imogen win her second successive Commonwealth Trials and add the English Senior Title to her two British Junior Titles or could Nina defend the Title? There could only be one winner and Imogen stormed to the Title by 1.7 points on 34.300 with Leigh Rogers taking the Silver medal on 32.600 and Nina Dearman bronze with 32.150. An excellent competition, with great organisation by the volunteers from Wiltshire. Congratulations to all of the medal winners and to our new English Champions! Story by Ken Summerfield, Gymnastics Online. For full results listing visit: http://www.gymnasticsonline.co.uk/html/english_champs_05.html |
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Alpha Factor Championships 2005 ALPHA FACTOR INVITATIONAL - FIRST TRIALS FOR COMMONWEALTH GAMES September 10th and 11th 2005 An excellent competition at the Wiltshire School of Gymnastics as our top juniors and Espoirs competed against some of our top Seniors in the Alpha Factor Cup in the first trial for next year’s English Team for the Commonwealth Games. Although some top Seniors did not compete, notably Beth Tweddle, Hayley Robson, Becky Downie, Hayley Robson and Shavahn Church, there were still big names at the Wltshire School of Gymnastics, including Imogen Cairns, Zoe Allen, Laura Jones, Abi-Louise Kirby, Amy Fossheim, and Amy Nunes battling for places on the plane to Melbourne. Gymnasts aged 14 and over next year are eligible to trial, so the results of the trials cover the 3 current age groups of Espoir, Juniors and Seniors. The competition also featured some of the top English youngsters from Level 4 through to FIG 15+ so it was a great experience for the younger gymnasts to compete alongside some of the Commonwealth Triallist’s. Special mention should go to Sophie Morris from Llanelli GC who won the Level 3 11/12 Age Group by almost 2 points scoring 29.500, and fellow Welsh gymnast Lizzie Beddoe from Cardiff Central in the Level 3 - 10 years group who won scoring 32.65 with Nicole Watson from Sandbach in second place. The second trial will for Commonwealths will take place in the Men and Women’s English Championships which will again be staged at Wiltshire on 15 /16 October. There will also be two wild card slots on the team for the gymnasts who did not trial. Beth will obviously be selected but it will be very interesting to see who the other slot goes to as this could be either Becky, Shavahn, Hayley and Aisling Williams. The top 10 results across the 3 age groups were as follows:- 1.
Imogen Cairns (The Academy) 34.075 SNR Lynette Lisle (Cardiff Central) took the silver in the senior category behind Imogen with a score of 32.750 but she was trialling for Wales so does not appear in the results above. Story
by Ken Summerfield, Gymnastics Online: |
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South West Regional Championships 2005 Elite gymnasts from the Wiltshire School of Gymnastics competed at the South West regional championships this weekend in Poole. The competition was for high level gymnasts who compete routines in line with the national development guidelines for their age. Ten girls who train at the Melksham club entered the competition and all did themselves proud. All of the girls were between the age of ten and thirteen and train very hard to be at the top of their sport. Their training schedule of four hours a day six days a week gives an indication of the commitment and dedication needed to be at this level. Gymnastics competitions are divided up into different rounds depending on age and all competitors perform on vault, bars, beam and floor. In the Level 3 ten years old category, Francesca Grout won the competition and received the gold medal, Antonia Bates won the bronze medal and Elise Gauntlett came a very respectable 5th place. In the Level 2 eleven years old category Katie Moffat won the bronze medal, Pip Higgs came 4th and India Rose-Mills came 6th. The competition was also a qualifier for the National Age Group championships, the most prestigious competition for junior elite gymnasts in Britain. The Wiltshire school were proud to have four gymnasts, Francesca Grout, Antonia Bates, Katie Moffat and Pip Higgs, all qualify to represent the South West team at the competition which will take place in November at the Guildford Spectrum. Elise Gauntlett also qualified as a reserve. There was also an FIG (Federation of International Gymnastics) competition for girls age twelve plus and the Wiltshire school had four representatives. This is the hardest level of competition in gymnastics and to have four gymnasts competing at this level is a credit to the club. Shannon Morse (12 years) came equal fifth, Leanna Clarke (12 years) placed 9th, and Amy Cowley (13 years) finished twelfth. These were excellent results for the girls who were competing against gymnasts many years their senior. The club would also like to congratulate Olivia Grout (12 years) who competed well over three pieces but pulled out of the beam exercise due to injury problems. The School now looks forward to the English Championships which will be held at the Melksham facility in October. The Wiltshire School of Gymnastics have hosted this national competition for three years in a row and are proud to welcome the very best gymnasts in the country to compete against their own elite FIG team. |
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National Titles for WSG Girls
Wiltshire School of Gymnastics gymnast Olivia Grout age 12 competed in the Welsh Apparatus Championships in Cardiff last weekend. The competition was also a trial for a place in the Commonwealth Games team, held in Australia in 2006. Olivia started the competition on her worst piece, Beam, competing a fantastic routine that stuck well. It turned out to be her best piece, coming away with the title of ‘Espoire beam Champion’. Making no further mistakes throughout the rest of the competition, Olivia became the overall ‘Espoire Welsh Apparatus Champion’. Another one of Wiltshire’s top gymnasts Samantha Bayley age 17 competed in the Senior Section of the Championships, and did really well in the trial for a place in the Commonwealth Games team for Wales. Sam gave a spectacular performance throughout the competition, walking away with three Apparatus titles on Vault, Beam and Floor. She also took the title of ‘Senior Welsh Apparatus Champion’. |
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British Championships 2005 Five elite WSG gymnasts travelled to Guildford on the 8th of July for the British Championships. In the British Espoir competition for girls aged twelve and thirteen Jessica Coombs came 10th, Shannon Morse 12th, Olivia Grout 15th and Leanna Clarke 22nd. Jessica Coombs also qualified for the individual apparatus finals and came 6th on the beam. Hannah Wickens competed in the Junior competition for girls aged fourteen and fifteen and was place 20th overall and 6th on the bars in the individual apparatus competition. Sam Bayley, competing for the Welsh Institute for Sport, took the silver medal at the Senior British Championships on the 8th - 10th July 2005. "Sam Bayley looked the best I have seen her since the high flying days of Espoir. She looked at ease with herself, her routines and has matured into a quality gymnast." said John Pirrie in his review of the Championships. |
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Shannon Morse wins County Championships 3rd July 2005 On the 3rd July WSG hosted the Wiltshire County Championships. The competition is open to gymnasts nine and above and of the 90 gymnasts competing 35 were from WSG. Gymnasts are separated into different competitions depending upon age and difficulty of routines. The highest level is FIG (Federation of International Gymnastics) for girls who compete at national and international level. Other competitions are Modified FIG and levels 2, 3, 4 and 5. The competition was a huge success for WSG with our gymnasts taking 21 out of the 41 medals. Special mention goes to the following WSG gymnasts. Shannon Morse was placed overall first and took the title of County Champion. Katie Moffat, Pip Higgs and India Rose-Mills have now competed their County Levels and will move into the FIG competitions. Hannah Grubb won the overall Level 4 trophy at the young age of ten. Talitha Vowles was competing for WSG for the first time. Louise Spear who won a bronze medal with her new routines including increased difficulty. |
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WSG win Bill Slater Team Championships
On Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th June, Wiltshire School of Gymnastics won the Bill Slater Team Championships held in Newcastle. This result promoted Wiltshire school of Gymnastics to one of the top clubs in the country beating 25 other clubs from around Britain to the top spot. This excellent result was achieved by a team consisting of Hannah Wickens (15), Jessica Coombs (12), Shannon Morse (12), Leanna Clarke (12), Pip Higgs (10), and Katie Moffat (10). Wiltshire School of Gymnastics were one of the of the first teams to compete early on Saturday morning posting a score of 126.00. There then followed a tense wait until Sunday evening to see if their score was good enough to win. Head coach Rachel Levick said “This was an exceptional performance by a relatively young team. I was really pleased that they performed with such style and maturity throughout the competition”. |
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SW FIG - 26th June 2005 26th June saw WSG hosting the SW FIG, a competition for girls competing on the international code of difficulty. The competition was of a very high standard with entries from all over the region. WSG entered four gymnasts in the under 13 category. Shannon Morse took the Gold with Olivia Grout, the Welsh Espoir Champion 4th. Leanna Clarke took 5th and Jessica Coombs 7th. Congratulations to them all. |
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Wiltshire County Grades 19th June 2005 The Wiltshire School of Gymnastics played host to the County Grades Gymnastics Competition on Sunday 19 June 2005. The host club claimed a hall of medals and ribbons. There were over 115 gymnasts competing on 4 pieces where they had to score over 30.00 in total to pass their grade, and over 40.00 to be awarded a distinction. Medals were awarded for 1st 2nd and 3rd places, with ribbons for 4th 5th and 6th places. The day began with the 1st grade, grade 4, and final grade - Pre-Level. In the grade 4 competition the clubs youngest entrants were off to a good start. In the under 8 years group Phoebe Greenwood took the silver medal, with team-mate Cecelia DeBruxelles taking the bronze medal. Phillipa Tilbury was 6th and Eugenia Burgess a respectable 9th. The 9 years group saw Amber Checkley take the title and gold medal with Florence Davies 3rd, Alice Todd 4th, and Lauren Merrett 6th. In the over 10 years group, The host club only had one entrant - Charlotte Williams, who received the silver medal.
The pre-Level competition was mixed ages and the gold medal was won by 10 year old Serena Nelson-Hall achieving a distinction, with team mate Rhianna Andrew in close 3rd taking the bronze medal. The second round was the grade 3 competition. Again the clubs' youngest gymnasts were out in force. The winner in the '7 years and under' group was 7 year old Livia Gauntlett with 6 year old Hannah Slater in second taking silver medal. Both these gymnasts achieved a distinction. Team mates close behind were Maria Bush 3rd, Katie Grubb 4th, Nikita Adams 6th, Kate Slater 7th,Sophie Lamp 8th, Emily Gray 9th, and Sian DeArth 11th. In the '9 years group' Bethany Jones took the gold medal, Alice Burnside 2nd, Ashleigh Hayes 6th, and Adelle Gullis in 8th. In the '10 years group' Holly O'Donaghue was awarded silver medal and team mates Wemma Smale came 3rd, Lucy-Jane Haesloop 5th and Kerena Walters 6th. In the oldest age group - '11 years plus' Beth Whipp took the gold medal with distinction, Molly McLeod was 2nd and Kitty Parfitt 6th.
The final round of the day was for Grades 2 and 1. Again the clubs youngest gymnasts stole the show in the Grade 2, 8 years group. Gold medal was taken by 8 year old Eva Parfitt, silver medal went to 7 year old Amy Neale, (both with distinction) and bronze medal to Katherine Jamieson. Close behind were team mates Rowen Hey 4th, Lauren Robinson 5th, Shannon Drew 6th, Ellie Gittins 8th, and Georgia Harridane 11th. The club had just one entry in the 9 and 10 years group - Bronte Cavalla who achieved 1st place and gold medal. In the Grade 1 competition the club had 2 gymnasts. In the '10 years group' 9 year old Emma Hill took the bronze medal, and the '11 years and over group' Becky Stevens took 5th place.
It was a fantastic but hot day, and the club is really pleased with the gymnasts excellent performance. This weekend also saw the club complete at County and National levels with superb results achieved by all. |
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South West Regional Compulsory 4 & 3 On Sunday 6 March 2005 The Wiltshire School of Gymnastics p1ayed host to the South West Regional Finals for the Compulsory Grades 4 and 3 and the British Development Plan Grades 3, 2, 1, and Voluntary l. The host club was not represented in the Compulsory 4 category, but had 3 gymnasts competing at Compu1sory 3. 9 year old Francesca Grout took the title and the first place in the team for the National Finals being held in Birmingham at the beginning of May, team mate Antonia Bates (also 9) was close behind taking the silver medal and the second place in the team. Elise Gauntlett gave a good performance finishing in 5 place overall and becoming the teams travelling reserve, however, E1ise’s scores were high enough for her to also compete in the finals as an individual. This competition also saw 4 members of the Melksham based club take a control club competition in preparation for their Compulsory 2 grade which will be taken in Liverpool next weekend. This is a National event for all gymnasts of this level and achieving a pass allows these gymnasts entry into the British Championships held in Guildford in July. These gymnasts were 10 year o1ds Katie Moffat, Pip Higgs, and India-Rose Mills, and 12 year old Olivia Grout. The afternoon’s competition saw over 60 gymnasts taking their grades and aiming for a place in the regional teams for the BDP Grades National Finals being held in Kettering in April. The host club was represented at every grade. Grade 3 saw the most competitors – over 30. 10 year old Rebecca Tamin took the bronze medal and a place in the team as did Lauren Gale who was placed 4th overall. Other club members who achieved a pass at Grade 3 were: Rebecca Press, Laura Kendrick, Katherine Turner, and Laura Ho1mes. Grade 2 was as successful for the host club with their only entry, 13 year old Amy Woodruff; taking the gold medal and the first place in the Regional team. Grade 1 saw 14 year old Bethany Gibbons take 6th place overall - becoming the non- travelling reserve for the Finals, 16 year old Kirsty Dalrymple also performed well to achieve 8th place overall. The final grade was Voluntary 1 and again the clubs only representative, l3 year old Amy Cowley, performed excellently to achieve 4th place and a place in the team. All gymnasts who competed from the host club achieved a pass at their respective grade with Francesca Grout and Amy Woodruff achieving a distinction. The club is now hoping for further success next weekend at the Compulsory 2 Grade in Liverpool, and from the 7 gymnasts who will be representing the South West at the National Finals later this year. Anyone interested in joining the club should contact Erin on 01225 793402. The club has classes for children aged 6 weeks and upwards, boys and girls, from beginners to competition level in both gymnastics and trampoline, along with adult classes. The club, which is a registered charity, is also looking for local businesses to sponsor them – anyone who may be able to help should contact Colin Harrison on the number above. |
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British Development Plan Grades 6, 5, and 4 - 27th February 2005 On Sunday 27 February 2005 the Wiltshire School of Gymnastics, Melksham, played host to the British Development Plan Grades 6, 5, and 4. Over 60 gymnasts from the County took part in the-event competing on 5 pieces - scoring an average of 7.00 on each piece in order to achieve a pass. Gymnasts scoring an average of 9.00 on each piece were awarded with a distinction. Round 1 saw gymnasts aiming to achieve their grades 6 and 4. The host club dominated the youngest age group at grade 6 – the youngest being just 6 years of age. These gymnasts were taking their grade a year younger than is suggested by the British Gymnastic Association. All 9 of the clubs members passed the grade with the top 2 achieving a distinction. Results for this age group were: 1st Olivia Gauntlett, 2nd Hannah Slater, 3rd Kate Slater and Maria Bush, 5th Emily Gray, 6th Katie Grubb 7th Sophie Lamb, 8th Josephine Evans, and 9th Sian DeArth. Also competing in this round from the host club, taking their BDP Grade 4, were 9 year olds - Amelia Yates- Hartnell, (3rd, with a Pass) Victoria Lewis, (2nd with Distinction) and Hannah Grubb, (1st with distinction). The
second round of the day saw gymnasts of all ages taking their BDP Grade
5. The youngest age group for this grade were again taking it a year
younger than is suggested by the British Gymnastic Association –
the youngest being just 7 years of age. All of the host clubs gymnasts
achieved a pass. Results were – 11 years and over – 1st Louise Spear, 4th Leah Moodie. All
gymnasts performed excellently and were awarded with woven badges and
certificates from British Gymnastics. Anyone interested in joining classes at the Wiltshire School of Gymnastics should contact Erin on 01225 793402. Classes cater for babies, pre-school children, recreational and competitive children (both boys and girls from County level) upwards), and adults. The club also offers trampoline lessons for pre-school, recreational, and competitive children, and adults. Information can be obtained from the number above. |
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