With the competition season in full swing, gymnasts from Sugarloaf Gymnastics have had superb success so far. In January seven gymnasts qualified to the Gymnastics Ireland Women’s Artistic Gymnastics (WAG) Level 2 – 9 All Around Finals which took place on February 15th and 16th in Shoreline Leisure Centre in Greystones. It was a busy weekend with nearly 240 gymnasts from across the country qualified to compete in 8 different difficulty levels. Lucy McCann and Emily Murphy qualified to compete in Level 2, which was only the second time the young gymnasts had competed. The competition was tough with only 3 medals available between the 21 gymnasts vying for the All Around National Champion titles. The girls showed clean performances and boasted high scores on all apparatus but unfortunately missed out on medals.
Jessica Knatchbull qualified to Nationals in Level 5 Under 13. She impressed by taking the top score on Vault and scoring second highest on Bars. Out of a strong field of 12 competitors, Jessica became the National All Around silver Champion, close to first place.
Emma Walsh qualified through to Nationals in Level 5 Under 13. She performed a beautiful floor routine and scored the second highest bar score in her age group to finish without a medal but in a very credible 6th place out of 14 competitors.
Jamie Meyer and Alice Fitzgerald competed in Level 9 Under 13. The girls performed beautifully executed floor routines, with Jamie performing high somersault skills to score a huge 10.750 as well as taking the third top score on Vault. Alice performed consistently throughout, scoring top on three out of four apparatus, she scored a full mark ahead of her competitors on bars with her fast paced routine including her new Giant skill which she competed for the first time. It was a smaller field of gymnasts with Jamie placing fourth and Alice claiming the National All Around Champion title, taking gold by a wide margin of over 2 marks ahead of second place.
Alanna Conroy competed in Level 9 Over 13 topping the successful weekend off by becoming the National All Around Silver Champion. She excelled throughout the competition, scoring the highest score on bars by far, with her closest competitor scoring nearly 2 marks behind her. She performed her difficult clear to handstand to Giant skill on Bars for the first time in competition.
There were strong performances from all of the Sugarloaf girls who train between 8 and 14 hours a week. Congratulations to all of the gymnasts on their hard work and dedication to the sport.
