The Norfolk Academy
of Gymnastics
Unit 10
Rookery Business Park
Silver Street
Besthorpe
Attleborough
NR17 2LD
T: 01953 453309
Email: info@tnag.co.uk
NEW ACADEMY STARS SHINE BRIGHT AS TNAG TAKE ALL FOUR TITLES AT COUNTY GRADES COMPETITION
22/03/2010
New Academy Stars Shine Bright as TNAG take all four titles at County grades Competition
Five weeks on from TNAG’s successful county competition for national grades and compulsory levels, Sunday 21 March was the turn of the girls competing at regional grades 14, 13, 12 and 11 who gathered at Norwich for their county championship and qualifier to the regional championships.
The morning round saw the grade 12 event where TNAG were represented only in the 12 years plus category by Chloe Cooper, Tally Watt and Poppy Brown. Chloe and Tally were both challenged by the moves at this level but rose to the challenge to pick up slightly unexpected but very well deserved bronze and silver medals respectively.
Poppy Brown was hugely strong and consistent across the pieces. With a positive attitude, beautiful presentation and the highest scores on vault and floor Poppy looked in a different class to the other competitors as she strolled to the gold medal in her age group and also took the overall trophy for her grade, beating the strong field that had assembled for the 10-11 years age group. Poppy’s victory got the day off to a fantastic start for the Academy. Well done Poppy and coach Tracy!
TNAG had seven gymnasts competing at grade 14 age 8/9 years, and for many of those gymnasts it was their first ever competition. All of the TNAG gymnasts looked classy and well prepared and all seemed to enjoy their experience. The scores were very close in this category but one gymnast stood out from the rest. Miriam Lowe had been preparing for the compulsory level 5 competition until she was struck down by a very serious illness shortly before Christmas and had to take a month out of training. Mim has showed fantastic determination in getting back into training and adjusting very quickly to the grade 14 moves and she performed all of her routines beautifully. Her 13.05 on bars and 12.25 on range were the top scores in the grade and she amassed a huge total of 62.45 to take the gold medal and overall trophy for grade 14. Well done to Mim and her coach Helen.
Mim was closely followed by Abigail Gardiner who took the silver medal. Abigail showed some very stylish work and it is easy to forget that she was only promoted to her current squad a few months ago. Abi’s 12.8 was the highest score on vault and her total of 61.00 earned her a distinction.
Just outside the medal places were Iris Jaggard (4th) and Annie Shaw (5th) and the contest was so close that on another day both of these gymnasts could have ended up with a medal and surely will take medals for their club in the near future.
Showing TNAG’s strength in depth at the younger age groups, Anastasia Hannah placed 7th, Arianna Cowan 8th and Abigail Ashford 9th all with very high scores. These excellent set of gymnasts coached by Kim Glasel push each other on in every training session and have even better things to come in the future.
Grade 13 age 9-10 had a small but select field of seven gymnasts, with five Academy girls taking on single entrants from Norwich and Easton. TNAG were aiming for a clean sweep of the medals and managed to achieve this with room to spare, taking the top four places in the grade. Charlotte Donnelly and Laura Glover have been very closely matched in all of the control events in the lead up to this competition and today was no exception. Within a few tenths of one another all the way round the pieces Charlotte and Laura pushed one another on to the top two places and distinction earning scores. This time it was Charlotte who just won out with the highest scores on vault and floor on her way to a total of 61.00, the gold medal and overall trophy. Charlotte, coached by Jan Barrett, is a delightful gymnast who always tries her best in training and does so with a smile on her face and everyone connected with the club was delighted to see her doing so well today. Laura is still relatively new to the competition squad but is a huge talent who is moving quickly through the ranks and still has much more to give. Naomi Bash was particularly beautiful on bars, floor and range (where she took the top score of the day with 12.75) and was delighted with her thoroughly deserved bronze medal. Hot on the heels of the medallists was Elise Jaggard who put in a very assured and solid performance and is growing in confidence with every competition. Grace-lily Day also passed the grade with room to spare, finishing in sixth.
Grade 11 was the highest grade on show on the day and TNAG’s Melissa Brown (10-11 years) and Shyla Norkett (12 years plus) showed some very confident and sparkling gymnastics and both earned distinctions on their way to a gold medal each. Shyla was top on vault (12.80) and floor (12.05) whilst Melissa came out on top on bars (12.30) and beam (12.40). Melissa’s total of 48.90 earned her the grade 11 trophy to make it four out of four for the club in terms of overall winners. Melissa and her coach Jan have worked very hard for this grade and will have high hopes for regional honours.
The competition was a very successful one for the Academy with all of the competitors passing their grade, seven gymnasts gaining distinctions, ten winning medals and four taking overall trophies. TNAG will be well represented at the regional finals in Ipswich on 9th May.
