Bristol Hawks 'Best in the West'

Bristol Hawks girls had three teams in the top division of the West Country League, ‘The Premiership’, one in each of the levels ‘A’; ‘B’ & ‘C’. We also fielded a very young ‘stars of the future’ team in the Division 1 ‘A’ section. The competition took place at Melksham on 12th May and proved to be a highly successful day.
In Premiership ‘C’ , the top level, our team won GOLD with a number of notable performances. On the vault Paisley Boyce performed a tidy piked tsukahara for a personal best score of 13.0. Robyn Lacey picked up two third placings for her improved work on both bars and floor. Kathryn Heathcote did a good captains job to place first on beam. Rowena Needham was second overall and also second on both bars and floor ~ where she successfully competed her double back somi for the first time. GB International gymnast Claudia Fragapane returned to competition with relatively easy routines for her. She was the top scoring gymnast overall and also won vault, bars and floor. Awesome Amy Sharp performed three ‘D’ elements on beam to mark a welcome return to competition for one of Bristol Hawks gymnastic ‘legends’.
In Premiership ‘B’ our team also took GOLD by over 10 marks from their nearest rivals Swansea who were particularly strong on the vault. It was a great team effort with every girl contributing to the team total [best four scores to count on each apparatus]. Highlights included a clean sweep of placings 1st through to 4th= on bars with Izzy Davis topping the rankings on this apparatus. Izzy produced quality work through out to finish 1st in the all around. On the beam Caitlin Lochhead succeessfully negotiated all her new elements to place first. She was also pleased to hit her handstand on bars for a third place finish on both this apparatus and on the floor where Hawks girls took the first three placings. Ellouise Challenger was the top scorer on floor with her funky choreography and a well performed full twisting back somi. She also hit all her routines to place 2nd in the all around. Gabrielle Wild was a star on vault where she landed her new tsukahara vault to place 3rd. Her strong all around performance also earned her a 3rd place in the overall standings. Sophie Brown flew high on the vault to gain valuable marks for the team on this apparatus. She also successfully included her new backward giant elements in her bar routine for a 4th= place on this apparatus.
In Premiership ‘A’ the youngsters made it a clean sweep of this league match by also winning the GOLD medals. Once again it was a great team effort with every girl contributing to the team total. Teagan Andrews was outstanding, top scoring on every apparatus to win the all around. Elize Waits also had a fantastic day nailing all her routines to place second in the all around and placing second on bars, beam and floor plus 3rd= on vault. Erin White produced a beautiful floor routine including her round off backflip for the first time to place 3rd on this apparatus she was also 4th in the overall standings. The two youngest members of our team, Roxanne Price and Mayalee Osola, had never competed in a four piece competition before but what a great debut! Roxanne’s highlights included a fantastic second vault to earn her a 3rd place finish on this apparatus and a stuck landing on bars for bonus marks. Mayalee was the youngest gymnast performing in this section and had impressive 5th place finishes on both vault where she had good flight and beam, where her forward roll showed great control.
In the Division 1 ‘A’ section we entered a very young team. Here girls can be entered up to 11 years of age. Our teams average age of just over 7 years along with the fact that we had just four girls in the team [you can have a maximum of six] and it’s the team’s best four scores to count on each apparatus meant we were never going to challenge for the medals. However the beauty of WCL is that it is an ideal competition to learn to compete in and gain experience. Our team was excited to show everyone the routines that they’ve been working so hard on. Highlights included Chiara Fragapane’s delightful floor routine that won the hearts of both the audience and judges. The stuck beam routines of both Dolshayea Bennett and Becky James to place 9th & 7th respectively, a fantastic achievement for their first ever competition beam routines. In fact all of this team were in their first ever four piece competition and they all performed with great aplomb.
What a great day for the Bristol Hawks Team and a big thank you to all our parents and family members who volunteered to help run the competition ~ for many it was also their debut and what a great job you all did!