The Regional Championships - 14th November 2009

Well, what a surprising day - and in the nicest possible way!

Jon-Luc was assured of a medal as he was the only one in Over 13 National 2 Men's Tumbling, but he still produced the best tumbling I have seen from him and averaged 8.9 across all three of his runs with the last one being the best at 9.36!!!!

In Prep A Women's Pairs we had two new partnerships. Add to this that both of the tops were doing their very first competition and a nervous time was expected! Not so, they went on the floor like true professionals with Katy & Zoe coming an agonising 4th, only missing a medal by 0.3, what a shame. Sophie & Zoe were not far behind in 6th. A good outing for both pairs. Well done girls!

It was in Prep B that the highlights of the day came. Nikita & Nikki went on the floor and produced a great routine that saw them move into 1st place. Then Hannah & Boston went on and beat that score. But in the last routine of the day, Lauren & Jessica pulled out all the stops and squeezed in between our other two pairs. So there we were - first, second and third! Sadly NO - a pair from a different planet performed in between our pairs and scored almost 1.5 marks more than our girls (boo!). So Hannah & Boston picked up Silver, Lauren & Jessica the Bronze and sadly Nikita & Nikki were edged into 4th. But still a good result in a Regional Competition. Well done girls!

Next up were the Grade 1 Women's Groups which is always a difficult level as this is where the Squads enter. Squad girls can train several times each week, so we will always have an uphill struggle to get into the medals here, but that's not to say we won't be trying! Emma, Amy & Carys performed a tidy routine, but with two groups from Oxford, two from Phoenix and one from Southampton Squad against them, their position was always going to be less than they wished for, but we were pleased by their performance.

Finally, in Grade 2 Women's Pairs we had another new pairing of Chloe & Heather. A year ago, Heather was working at Prep B, so the last 12 months have seen her take great strides up the levels, which has meant learning new skills (and quickly!). So it was pleasing to see them put in a good performance and finish a creditable 7th out of 13. With Chloe's knee injury scheduled for repair straight after Gala and Heather's determination to fully master flics and handsprings, the New Year looks very promising for these two girls.

So, all in all, a very good competition for Testwood. Well done everyone!

to open the Results as a Word document.