The East Midlands Schools Gymnastics championships were held at Stamford. Winning teams in each group qualify through to the National Finals in May.
As usual, several Grantham schools were competing but with changes to the age group rules this year and an updated judging system, the competition was less predictable than normal.
King’s School successfully won the under-14 team title, performing consistently on the vault and with improved routines on the floor. Priory Ruskin Academy also vaulted well and placed second.
St Mary’s and Cliffedale competed in the under-11 age group in the mixed and girls’ events respectively. Both had tough competition from Stamford Junior School but performed well, with several new members competing at this level for the first time. They each took well-deserved runners-up spots.
It was a good rehearsal for the Cliffedale girls – Freya Hoe, Cherry Clark, Molly Harby, Eleanor Squires and Phoebe Richards-Cole – who on the following day also went on to win the Lincolnshire Primary Schools Under-11 Championships.
Walton, Priory Ruskin and KGGS all performed in the under-14 and under-19 team events. KGGS were less than two marks behind the winners, Stamford, in the under-14 girls, with Walton coming a close third and Priory Ruskin fifth. In the under-19 girls’, Walton and KGGS reversed positions. Both schools performed very well on the vault, with Walton finishing fourth and KGGS fifth. In the under-19 mixed competition, Priory Ruskin took first place overall, retaining their title from last year.
There were also some highly placed individual performances on the day. In the youngest age group, Freya Hoe (Cliffedale) took three place in the under-11 girls and Kyle Davidson (St Mary’s) was fourth in the boys’.
King’s took the top four places in the under-14 boys’ event with Jacob Armstrong, Daniel Watson, Cameron Chow and Ryan Poole. And KGGS took second place with Megan Stott in the girls’ event. In the senior under-19 age group, Anthony Matthews (Priory Ruskin) won the boys’ event and Imogen Gregory (Walton) was third in the girls’ category.