Posted on Monday, 24th May 2010
Douglas had a busy weeked in Lisburn, when we visited Salto Gymnastics Centre to compete in the National Womens All Around Finals on Saturday 22nd, and the National Womens Apparatus Finals alongside the National Mens Championships for levels 5-8. Accompanying the gymnasts were coaches Olan Lotty, Sarah Wedel and Tim O’Donovan, and judges Sile Quinlan, Elaine Dilworth & Mairead Kavanagh
National Womens All-Around Championships
On Saturday 22nd, Niamh Rana and Sarah Buckley competed in the All Around finals, where their scores on Bars, Beam, Floor and Vault, were added together to determine the placings. Aimee O’Driscoll was also due to compete but had to withdraw only last Thursday due to a last minute ankle injury! Niamh was competing in the Senior category, and Sarah in Juniors. In a very warm gym hall, the girls did some great routines. Both were in the same group for rotations, and we started on Floor. Sarah did a solid routine hitting all her tumbles. Niamh’s last tumble was a little bit low, but still came out with a great score. Onward to vault, and two clean vaults from both girls. Bars likewise went clean, with Sarah recovering well from a small mistake on her dismount. Form there we went to Beam, and despite some uncharacteristic mistakes, both received decent scores. A few minutes later, all the score were in, and we were delighted to see that Niamh and Sarah had both placed 2nd in their respective categories! Silver medal in National Junior Championships, and National Senior Championships!
Mens National Championships
We had 6 boys compete on the Sunday. At level 5, Harry O’Byrne and Damien Feller competed at Under 12, while Liam McKenna took part at Over 12. At level 6 (Minor), Ryan Gettings took part, and at Level 7 (Juniors) Adam Dalton & Daniel Fox competed.
The level 5 competition is a development event with specific set routines on the apparatus, including the mushroom instead of the pommel horse, and the boys compete in loops&gloves on horizontal bar. The 3 lads at level 5 had competed at this level also last year, so were in their second time out at this level. Damien and Harry had improved lots since last year, upping last years scores significantly, with Damien placing 4th in the event. Harry, after many months of hard work on the mushroom, put in a perfect performance. Liam, did very well, fighting hard on all apparatus, and ended up with the Gold Medal!
At level 6 which sees the best boys in the country under 13, Ryan was competing on all apparatus. He shone specifically on Floor and Vault, finishing 1st on his stuck vault, and 2nd on a very clean floor routine. At level 7, which is out National Junior Championships, seeing the best boys under 18, Adam and Daniel took part. Adam was only performing on his expert apparatus of Floor and Vault. He performed a superb yurchenko on vault, miles high in the air, and the crowd went silent when he went to floor, to perform his routine from the European Championships, ending up in first place on that apparatus. Daniel Fox, also just home from Europeans, was competing on all apparatus. Daniel had a great event, placing first on Rings, Vault, P-Bars, and joint 1st on Horizontal Bar. By the end of the event, it was clear that he had won the all around, and the Level 7 National Championships.
National Womens Apparatus Championships
The girls were back in the gym on Sunday also. This time it was the National Apparatus finals, where the girls are rewarded for their performance on the individual apparatus. The girls had both qualified to all 4 apparatus. They both stepped up from their performances from the previous day, and the judges duly rewarded them. Sarah did a super floor routines, narrowly missing out on a medal, but on bars, she nailed everything, and placed 2nd. Niamh was on a roll, and ended the day with medals of every colour! Bronze on Vault, Silver on Floor and Beam, and a Gold medal, and National Senior Champion on Bars!
Well done to all the gymnasts!
