Date: Sunday 21st March 2010 at Saffron Walden
Entries close: TBC
Entry ages: 4 years +
On Sunday 21st March Cambridge Cangaroos Trampoline Club played host to the regions top trampolinists as they gathered at Saffron Walden County High for the 2nd Regional Grading competition. This was the first time the event had been held at this venue and it was considered an out and out success.
Cangaroos had begun setting up the event on Friday evening, with a group of eager volunteers shifting trampolines and mats to the centre with the fantastic support of Welch’s Transport who provided a truck and driver for both the taking and returning of the equipment on the Sunday evening.
Saturday training for the club was held at SWCH and following training, everyone mucked in to set-up the hall.
Sunday morning bright and early, Cangaroos competitors, parents, officials and volunteers turned up, quickly followed by over 200 competitors, officials and supporters. The place was full to bursting as the regions talented trampolinists competed for a chance to qualify to the next level, with some hoping to qualify to the national scene.
Cangaroos had entered their largest ever contingent of 31 competitors, but with injuries, this had been reduced to 29 entries on the day. Still our largest ever entry.
With three panels running throughout the day, members of Cangaroos were competing all day, so club coaches were running from panel to panel to support and encourage the club members in their efforts.
Qualification to the next grade is the goal of these competitions, medals are important, but it’s that all important total score that determines whether a performer moves up. Cangaroos had a great day, not only obtaining a clutch of medals, but also successfully gaining qualification for a number of our performers.
The G grade had the largest entries, with under 13, under 15, over 15 age groups and boys and girls and Cangaroos had 19 entries across the 3 groups.
In the Under 13 girls G, we had a team of 4 which took the silver medal, with Trinity Kelly, leading the Cangaroos pack with a score of 48.1, qualifying for F and taking 4th place. Grace Pike narrowly missed out on qualification with a score of 44.5 and took 11th place. Daniella Stephenson came 14th with a total score of 44.4 and Rebecca Sebley came 16th with a score of 44.0. There were 38 competitors in this group, so it was a fantastic overall performance from each member.
In the Under 13 boys G, again the club had a team of four, this time taking gold. In the individual event, Matthew Burson lived up to his early promise and took gold with a score of 47.5 and qualification to F. James Able took bronze with a score of 45.9 and also qualified up to F. Rory Morris in his first grading came 7th, with a score of 44.6, narrowly missing out on qualification and was closely followed by Laurence Halfpenny in 8th place with a score of 44.5.
In the under 15 girls G, we had another team of 4, which managed 4th place in another large field of 29. Becky Midgely capped of a recent run of form with Gold and qualification to F with a score of 47.4. Claire Kilmartin came 20th with a score of 43.8, Amelia Glydon came 22nd with a score of 43.2 and just behind Ellie Sayer came 23rd with a score of 43.
In the over 15 ladies G, the club had two teams of three competitors, with three members taking on a team of our coaches out of field of 23 competitors and 5 teams, we took Gold and Silver, with the coaches pipping the younger girls to the 1st spot, just showing that experience is always a useful aide to performance. In the individual event, Emily Copeland came 5th with a score of 44.3, closely followed by Laura Able in 6th place with a score of 44.1, who couldn’t quite emulate her son’s performance to gain a qualifying score. Cangaroos then occupied a clutch of positions with Cathy Culshaw placing 14th with a score of 41.6, Lucy Haydon came 15th with a score of 41.4, Hollie Augustus came 16th with a score of 39.9 and Jemma Saintey came 17th with a score of 30.9.
In the over 15 mens G, Benos Noble was taking part in his first ever competition and he managed a highly creditable 5th place with a score of 43.6.
In the F grade, our two entries in the under 15 girls and boys groups both narrowly missed out on bronzes with Frances Pickup recording a score of 45.5 and 4th place in the girls group and Eddie Robertson recording a score of 43.7 and 4th place in the boys group.
In the over 15 boys F grade, Harry Frostic took silver with a score of 46.1.
In the E grade, under 15 girls, Naomi Waldock was well placed for qualification and a medal after round 1, but some erratic scoring in round 2 placed her joint 2nd going into the final round. However, she did achieve the qualifying score, even though she finally placed 5th with a total score of 75.1. We were delighted with qualifying as Naomi has now gained promotion twice in the last 3 gradings and is at the top of the regional competition ladder. In the Over 15 girls group, Imogen Pickup did a solid 1st round, but a shaky 2nd routine saw her just qualify into the final ending with 7th place and a total score of 72.0. Johanna Withington had been training well all week, but unfortunately couldn’t translate her training score to the competition day, Jo had a reasonable round 1, but problems in round 2 meant she missed the final and came 11th with a score of 46.0
In the Over 15 boys E grade, Michael Keelin had been training well all week and was hopeful of qualifying to D. He had a two satisfactory routines, which although weren’t sufficient to qualify, did get him into the final and with a total score of 73.3 took the bronze medal.
In the Under 19 boys Grade D, both Joe Chandler and Max Fagelman had satisfactory if unspectacular competitions. Both made the final with Joe Chandler scoring 74.8 and taking 5th place and Max Fagelman scoring 71.7 and taking 6th place.
Our final competitor of the day was Luis Pires in the Over 19 Grade D, who unfortunately didn’t manage to qualify for National C, but took the gold medal with a final score of 73.2.
So a highly successful day for Cangaroos and for the region, we’d like to thank our sponsors Welch’s Transport for their support, and Darren the driver in particular, we also want to thank Donna Thomas for her catering and support throughout the day in the kitchen, plus all the many volunteers who made the day so successful. Well done to all competitors from all the clubs, and particularly to the Cangaroos contingent, who as usual did the club proud in terms of turn-out, behaviour and support for fellow members. The region was so impressed they are going to request a National Gala is held at the venue. This would be a great coup for the region and for club.
The club’s next competitions are the Easton Open on 16th May, the Milton Keynes Open on 30th May and the Regional Grading at Ipswich on 6th June. We hope that these will continue to be as successful for the club and individuals as this event