Date: Sunday 18th March 2018 at Cambridge University Sports Centre
Entries close: 2018-03-02
Entry ages: 7 years +
23 Cangaroos gymnasts qualified through to the East Region NDP Finals held on March 18th at Cambridge University Sports Hall. Although the weather forecast had looked bad and the Regional committee had considered alternatives to the competition, it all went ahead on a cold but bright Sunday.
There were a record number of entries for the competition from Clubs all over the East Region and Cangaroos were delighted to have increased its qualification numbers from 13 in 2017 to 23 this year. Unfortunately, 3 dropped out of the competition prior to Sunday, but 20 Cangaroos took part in the 3 Club Grades (CDP) and 6 NDP grades. We also had one of our gymnasts/coaches competing in the DMT, albeit for another club as we don't currently offer that discipline.
With 23 competitors our coaches were stretched across all 4 panels, but we would like to say thank you to Franky, Scott, Laura and Tony for the magnificent effort they put in. We also need to thank our Judges, Luis and Nicky and all our willing volunteer marshals and recorders. Without your support we couldn't take part in these events. First to compete were Sam Robin and Molly McGregor, both in the first flights of the day for their competitions. Sam performed two solid routines in the Level 1 Women's 13+ competition taking 17th place out of 34 entries in the largest group of the day. Molly also produced two solid routines and placed 7th in Level 2 Women's 11-12 competition. Also in the same competition as Molly, Poppy Budd, scored marginally less than Molly and was placed 14th. A good result for both girls.
Next up were Annie France and Millie Brown, also competing in the Level 1 Women's 13+ competition, both girls successfully completed their routines and had good scores, with Annie just beating out Millie to take 28th place and Millie coming in 30th. The team of Sam, Annie and Millie, placed 3rd.
Next to compete was Alasdair Macrae, in the Level 6 Men's 17+ competition. This was an extremely high scoring and very tight competition, with excellent routines from all the competitors. Unfortunately, despite two high scoring routines, Ali was pipped to the medals and qualification to the team finals by placing 4th (top 3 in levels 5 & 6 qualify for the Regional Team).
Following Ali, Felicity Lawrence competed in the Level 5 Women 15+ group. Again two high scoring routines were completed, but the quality of the group told out and unfortunately, Felicity only managed to secure 9th place.
Shortly after, Sydney Kelly competed in the Level 6 Women 15+ group and with the highest Cangaroos score of the day took the Gold medal and qualified for the Regional Team for the National Team Finals. This will be Sydney's 4th time representing the Region at the Finals and we wish her well for that competition.
Following Sydney, Amy Pires took to the trampolines in the Club 2 Women 11-12 competition. Two great routines saw Amy take the silver medal. During Amy's medal winning performance, Lilly Carter competed in the Club 2 Women 7-8 group and she also performed excellently taking the silver medal. Unfortunately, the Club grades don't qualify any further so congratulations to both Amy and Lilly for their medal winning performances.
Also competing in the Club Grades; Letty Adams, Club 3 women 13+ completed both her routines and took 7th place. Imogen O'Connell, competing in the Club 3 Women 11-12 group successfully completed her routines and narrowly missed the medals, taking 5th place and Anabelle Hacker competing in the Club 3 Women 9-10 group completed her routines to take 4th place, also narrowly missing out on a medal.
Back to the NDP grades and Chloe Rollins took part in the NDP Level 3 Women's 13+ group and also successfully completed her routines, placing 8th in another high scoring competition.
Amelie Hacker, Isla Cowling and Rhiannon Monie made up our team in the NDP 1 Women's 11-12 group in what was the 2nd biggest group of the day. Rhiannon pulled out two great routines, and was leading the competition after the first flight, as the competition went on, she slowly slipped downwards to end up in a very credible 7th position, Amelie did well, especially as she had been struggling with the routine over the last few months and placed 18th, a good result. Unfortunately a mistake from Isla in her first routine meant that she was never in contention and she ended up in 27th place. The team placed 3rd, so a good result there.
Our last women's competitors were Anya Snook and Sophie Ralph, taking part in the NDP 4 women 13+ group. Anya had two excellent routines and was also leading the competition after the first flight, but once again the competition increased and Anya placed 4th, narrowly missing the medals. Sophie unfortunately made a mistake in her first routine but came back with a strong 2nd routine to finish in 27th place.
Our final competitor of the day was Michael Kapsita, taking part in the NDP 1 Men 13+ competition. Two good routines saw him take the silver medal, but unfortunately was unable to achieve the Regional Team as he narrowly missed the qualifying score.
So a long day came to end and the Regional Season drew to a close. Cangaroos gymnasts left the hall mostly satisfied and as a club we came away with 1 gold and 3 silver medals and one gymnast qualified to the Regional Team.
As a club, our gaze now turns towards the National season and our senior gymnasts. The first of the National Competitions is the National Schools Final in Belfast on 24th March, followed by the first of the English National Qualifying competition in Gillingham on 7th & 8th April. We wish all our national competitors well in the coming season.