South West Regional Grades 2014

Bristol Hawks girls performed beautifully at the SW Regional grades held on the 13th July. The grades routines are designed to provide a sound platform from which a competitive gymnastic career can take off and the Bristol Hawks youngsters certainly launched theirs! All our girls achieved the highest standard of pass mark: DISTINCTION. With so many outstanding routines from our young team it’s hard to choose which to mention but here are just a few of the highlights from the competition –
Grade 14 is the entry level grade and this year an incredible 87 girls from across the 7 Counties of the South West took part. TIGER LILLY Picket showed great improvements in her strength earning her the top score of the day on Range and Conditioning, she performed well on all apparatus to rank a fantastic 2nd in the overall standings. ALEXIE Hunt gave a delightful performance on floor to place 2nd on this apparatus she was also 3rd on R & C and 4th overall, an amazing achievement for someone who is on the minimum age requirement for this grade [there is no maximum age limit]. LOTTY Wheeler also looked lovely on floor where she performed with great aplomb placing 4th and at the end of the day she achieved an all around ranking of 5th again outstanding for one so young. All our girls were ranked in the top fifth of the competition despite the majority being on the youngest age requirement – POPPIE Abbott rocketed off the springboard on vault to achieve 4th place on this apparatus and also demonstrated great power on the floor exercise where she placed 5th. KHANDI Decordova performed well on all apparatus but it was particularly pleasing to see how her hard work on her strength has paid off with great improvements on both bars and range and conditioning. MAYA Waits has worked hard on the detail of all her routines, her floor routine was particularly well performed gaining a well deserved 6th place.
Bristol Hawks had equally good results in Grade 13. BECCY James was top scorer on both Range and Conditioning Set & Beam she was also third on Bars, an outstanding overall achievement which placed her 2nd in the All Around rankings. Also achieving well in the AA was DOLSHAYEA Bennett with a 4th place ranking – her highlights were a fantastically flighted Vault which achieved the top score and sticking her beam for a 3rd place on this apparatus. CHIARA Fragapane showed great flair on her floor exercise melting the hearts of the judges and gaining one of the top scores of the day.
With just one Bristol Hawks gymnast left to compete could the day get any better? Well it did with ERIN White our sole representative in Grade 12 being the star performer. Erin has made great improvements this year particularly on vault, where she placed 3rd. She was outstanding on both bars and floor where she was top scorer in both. In the overall rankings Erin placed 1st making her the South West Grade 12 Champion. This is three years in a row that Erin has been top in the AA at grades a real testament to the quality of her work – What a great way to end a highly successful day! WELL DONE to ALL our TEAM