Arun gymnasts shine at Sussex floor and vault extravaganza

Seventeen members went to Burgess Hill, where the club were represented in nine of the 22 categories at the Sussex floor and vault competition, attended by 14 clubs.

The first round saw Emily Day, Caitlyn Baird and Betsy Baird compete in the ten and 11-year-olds’ intermediate girls group. With medals awarded only for overall position, it was important to put in a solid performance on both pieces of apparatus.

Emily managed a fantastic first-place vault and second on floor, giving her gold.

Betsy put in an excellent vault for third place and, combined with a seventh on floor, that secured the bronze medal. Caitlyn was 12th on floor and 15th overall.

In round two Arun had Sophie Haines competing in the 12-14 intermediate girls’ group and she gained third place on floor and ninth overall. Lucy Aldred, in the eight-years novice girls, finished 17th.

Round three saw the eight-nine years novice boys in action. Raife Lock was second on floor and first on vault for overall silver. Connor Stewart Green’s two steady performances saw him finish sixth.

The novice boys’ ten-11 group saw Ben Hauxwell put in two consistent performances, finishing second on floor and vault to win overall silver, with Adam Slater having a sixth-place finish.

Daisy Donoghue, in the eight-nine intermediate girls, finished sixth overall.

In the next round, in the 11-years novice girls competition were Jenna Partridge and Rebecca Roberts. Jenna performed a first-place floor routine and a second-place vault that saw her finish with gold. She also won the trophy for the highest overall score from this group and the novice ten-year-olds.

Rebecca’s performance left her seventh.

In the 12 to 14 novice girls, Rebecca Williamson produced a lovely floor routine to come first. Combined with fourth place in the vault, this gave her overall silver.

India Clark had a good second place on floor just behind Rebecca and was 11th overall. Jasmine Green’s consistent performances left her overall sixth.

In the final round, Chloe Golding and Amelia Freeman competed in the ten-years novice girls, where Chloe just missed a medal when she finished fourth after a second-place vault. Amelia finished eighth.

Arun head coach Amanda Hawkins was delighted with the performances.