The Norfolk Academy
of Gymnastics
Unit 10
Rookery Business Park
Silver Street
Besthorpe
Attleborough
NR17 2LD
T: 01953 453309
Email: info@tnag.co.uk
TNAG WIN ALPHA FACTOR AERIALS CUP
14/09/2009
TNAG WIN ALPHA FACTOR AERIALS CUP
Eleven Academy gymnasts made the long journey to Wiltshire for the Alpha Factor national invitational competition held at the Wiltshire School of Gymnastics on 11-13 September. For the gymnasts, their families and the coaches the trip was well worth it, with the girls bringing an impressive haul of medals and rosettes back to Norfolk along with the coveted Aerials Team Cup.
The event is a fantastic one in that it caters for all levels and ages of gymnasts and open to every single club in the country. This year over 320 gymnasts competed in all. As well as fighting for individual honours clubs with strong enough representation across the levels were also eligible for the Alpha Factor Cup (in age and FIG) and Aerials Cup (out of age). For those awards the scores of one designated gymnast at each level are combined with one joker per apparatus being played where the score for that piece is doubled towards the team total. This involved some careful tactics from the coaches and added an extra element of interest to the weekend. TNAG were one of only two clubs to field a team in both Cup competitions.
Friday saw the level 4 out of age competitions with Charlotte Taylor competing at 10-11 years, and Shyla Norkett, Grace Ashworth and Sienna Sprong competing at 12 plus. Charlotte was experiencing her first competition outside of the county and was clearly affected by nerves, but hopefully will have gained in experience from the event. The girls had a tricky draw, starting on the beam but it was Sienna that rose to the challenge getting her competition off to a fantastic start posting a score of 12.15 which remained unequalled through the rest of the round. The rest of the girls suffered mistakes on the beam but recovered well to put in strong performances on the other pieces with particularly classy floor routines and strong clean bars. Sienna battled hard throughout her competition and posted a fantastic set of scores to take the overall silver medal in her category and to collect rosettes for first place on beam, second on floor and third on bars. This should be a massive confidence booster after some disappointing scores the week before at the Norfolk championships. Sienna was also the level 4 team member for the Aerials Cup with the joker having been used on her bar routine so her excellent performance got the team off to a brilliant start.
Saturday was a very long day with the first round warming up at 8.30am and the presentation not taking place until 7pm. Lucy Jarvis competed at level 3 in age. In what was a very high quality field featuring most of the top gymnasts nationally at this age group Lucy did exceptionally well to hold her own and looked an extremely classy and accomplished performer. Her total score of 47.25 put her in 11th place overall and Lucy was unphased by the pressure of having the joker for the Alpha Factor Cup being played on her beam exercise. She stuck with hardly a wobble for 12.35 to get the in age team also off to a very strong start.
The following round saw two very large age categories get underway. Bethany Harmer competed at level 4 in age and Polina Polyakova at level 3 11-12 years. In a field of 50 9 year olds including many of the top ranked in the country, Bethany Harmer had a fantastic competition with just a mistake on the vault (where she unintentionally debuted a brand new vault!) but with exceptionally good performances on beam (12.75) and floor (12.3) as well as her 11.9 on bars as her joker performance. Her total of 47.75 placed her 8th and kept the Alpha Factor Cup team going strong.
Polina won this event last year at level 4 and wanted desperately to feature again having stepped up a level. Polina was the very first gymnast on the bars and showed her very best routine for 12.7. She followed it up with 12.85 on beam which was her joker performance. On floor Polina competed her recently learned double back somersault for the very first time, and did so successfully. She was the only level 3 gymnast to include such a difficult skill. Unfortunately Polina stumbled on one of her more simple tumbling passes which kept her score down. But the earlier two scores plus her solid vault score gave her an excellent total of 49.15 which put her in the lead after the first round of her section but eventually left her second overall, having been surpassed by just one very strong gymnast from East London. Polina also collected a first place rosette for her bars and third for her beam.
The final day of the competition saw the level 2 and FIG gymnasts compete. Angel Kenzitt and Emily Crowe lined up in the in age level 2 competition where the field was smaller than many of the others but the quality was excellent with nearly all of the top 20 in the country competing. The girls started solidly on bars and Angel competed a fantastic beam routine with hardly a wobble for a massive score of 13.7. Emily suffered two falls on the beam which kept her score down to 11.55. Angel is still competing a reduced difficulty floor routine but still seemed harshly marked at 11.2. Emily was one of only three gymnasts to compete the required double back somersault and did so successfully to score 13.05 and get her competition back on track. Both girls competed the well rewarded piked Yurchenko vault. This was the first time Angel has competed the vault and she did so with enormous height but unfortunately over-rotated and fell. Emily competed the vault very successfully for 13.2, and this was also her joker score. The girls hadn’t expected to place in the top positions in view of their errors and so were delighted to both have done so. Angel’s overall total of 48.3 placed her 6th and she collected a rosette for third on beam. Emily posted an overall score of 48.75 to place 4th, and take a rosette for second on floor. Both girls were just outside the “big three” of Molly Taylor, Devon Anderson and Lydia Burgess who have dominated this age group for years. The TNAG girls showed that if they can hit clean all around performances they are capable of breaking that domination in competitions to come.
Summer-Jade Kenzitt had the difficult task of competing in the FIG 12/13 years section in order to post a score for the Alpha Factor Cup. Summer was not at her best but showed fantastic determination to get through her competition and help the team to keep on track for awards in the Alpha Factor Cup.
In the final round of the day Sarah Kett competed in the level 2 14 years plus category and showed incredible calmness and composure to go through her routines very cleanly, with notable highs of 12.4 on vault and 11.4 on beam. Her total of 44.45 placed her 6th overall.
Sarah was the only TNAG gymnast remaining so late in the day and so she and the coaches waited with baited breath for the team competition results. The in age girls did brilliantly to place 3rd in the Alpha Factor Cup behind the exceptionally strong Pipers Vale and East London.. Well done to Bethany, Lucy, Emily and Summer. For the Aerials Cup we knew we were leading after the level 4 and 3 girls but faced stiff competition from Aylesbury. The results were read out and TNAG had just held off the challenge to be pronounced the winners of the Cup, which was proudly collected by Sarah. A huge well done to Sienna, Polina and Sarah for a fantastic achievement. The performances of the girls across the weekend got the Academy noticed by fellow competitors, judges and the audience alike and it is clear that TNAG is establishing itself as a force to be reckoned with at all levels. A huge thank you and well done to all of the girls and their parents and to the coaches who put in three long days of coaching and judging. This is a hugely enjyable competition and we are already looking forward to next year!
