YOUNG Bulmershe gymnasts kicked off the competition season in style by winning a clutch of medals.
The artistic gymnasts, who train at the gym in Woodley, competed in the Berkshire Country Grades Competition,held at Pinewood Gymnastics Centre in Wokingham.
Securing the top spots in the regional Grade 3 competition, Aimee Lovell and Sophie Marsden won gold and silver, with scores of 62.85 and 62.45 respectively.
Their younger team-mates also dominated the medals in the Grade 6 competition, with Evgeniya Nikishina taking gold, just ahead of Tienna Oakman-Charles in silver and India Nicholls with the bronze.
Just missing out on the medals was Mia Stevenson in fourth, helping Bulmershe to a clean sweep in the grade.
The girls then showcased their skills in the Miss Quatro “Witch of the West” event in Wiltshire, with equally impressive results.
In the most demanding category, the compulsory section, Lauren Saunders secured the bronze in the 11-12 year old category, while Mollie Haswell and Mariah Licorish tumbled to success with gold and silver in the eight-year-old category.
Amelie Bowles, one of Bulmershe’s rising stars who has been selected to be part of the GB’s Pathway Squad, was seventh in the 10-11 year old grouping.
Finlay Morgan and Musa Siddiqi with Bulmershe Gymnastics Club coach, Mat Budsworth.
The national grade competition followed, with Darcy Thorne and Alice Bruun each within touching distance of the medals, but had to be satisfied with securing fourth in their respective age groupings at grade 3.
The seven to nine-year old club grade gymnasts again managed a clean sweep, with Tienna Oakman-Charles winning gold with 63.6, just half a point ahead of Mia Stevenson with the silver. India Nicholls took the bronze with Evgeniya Nikishina in fouth and Bella Bunce in 26th.
Bulmershe head coach, Jo Chennell, highlighted that the girls are now working towards the regional finals which take place in Southampton and then the national finals in May.
“We are the only club to get all our gymnasts to the South Region Grades Finals despite the qualifying score being raised this year,” she said.
Four of Bulmershe’s younger boys also took part in their first competition of the year, a six-piece invitational competition in Abingdon.
Liam Sadler collected the all-round bronze in the Under 10 competition, while team-mate Joshua Thornton won the gold for his vault and Matthew Mann won silver for his rings and parallel bars. Tom Pitts performed strongly, but didn’t quite get a medal place.
More success for Bulmershe's gymnasts.
Bulmershe’s head of operations, Trina Farrance, explained “I am really pleased to see the younger boys start to compete and get their confidence up.
“After the senior boys ended last season on a high with Musa Siddiqi and Finlay Morgan getting gold as part of Team South in the national finals, our younger boys have no shortage of role models.”
The senior boys squad recently competed at the British Championships at Liverpool’s Echo Arena.
While Siddiqi was forced to support from the sidelines having injured himself during the warm up, Morgan performed cleanly and consistently, achieving 14th in the Under 16 competition with a top 10 placing in each of the floor, rings and vault competitions.
Bulmershe’s James West, Max Kendall and Harry Eckersall competed in the Under 14 category, while Benjamin Neville performed in the Under 12s.
While these boys didn’t bring back any silverware in this high level competition, they relished the experience of competing alongside their Olympic heroes.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here