GRANTHAM’S 25th Schools Gymnastics Championships were held at The Meres leisure centre last Sunday, with more than 200 competitors from 21 local schools in attendance.
Walton Girls were again successful, winning both the under-13 girls’ team title and the under-16 girls’ team. KGGS were runners-up in both age groups but the margin between the two schools has closed up in the under-13s. Similarly, King’s School won both the boys’ team titles, with Priory Ruskin Academy runners-up.
In the under-9 girls’ team competition, Cliffedale won by three clear marks ahead of Huntingtower, with Cliffedale’s younger team coming third. The under-11 girls’ competition was very closely contested between St Mary’s and National. St Mary’s were the better team on the floor with National better on the vault.
At the end of the competition, only 0.4 separated the two schools, with St Mary’s edging ahead of National, with Isaac Newton placing third. St Mary’s had a second team win, beating Cliffedale in the primary boys’ competition.
Individual successes were split between the 14 primary schools. Megan Fisher (Cliffedale) and Tom Sweeney (St Mary’s) both worked consistently on the floor and vault to win the under-7 categories.
Ellie Jane Booton (Huntingtower) and Oliver Denton (St Anne’s) both produced the only 9.0 scores for floor in their under-9 age groups to take the top spots.
In the under-11s, both Daniel Fabi and Kyle Davidson (St Mary’s) scored 9.1 and 9.0 respectively on the vaults, but Hal Dexter (Barrowby) produced a quality floor of 9.2 to add to his 8.9 on vault to clinch the overall title.
In the under-9 girls’ competition, only one whole mark separated first and ninth place. Molly Harby (Cliffedale) and Katie Hewitt (National) both worked consistently and tied for first place with 17.1, closely followed by Imogen Raistrick (Colststerworth) on 16.8.
The primary advanced competition was always going to be a very closely fought battle. Lucy Valentine (St Mary’s) scored the highest marks on both the voluntary and set floor routines, with Emily Morton (National) winning the set vault and Charlotte Mears (Huntingtower) the voluntary vault. However at the end of the competition, adding all four scores together, Emily took the top spot by 0.05 ahead of Charlotte, with Lucy just behind in third.
At secondary level, just 0.1 separated first and second positions in both the under-13 and under-16 boys’. Jacob Armstrong (King’s) just pipped Rhys Rymer (PRA) in the under-13 age group, whilst Billy Wilson (King’s) won the under-16s just ahead of Anthony Matthews (PRA).
SWRHS narrowly won both the under-13 and under 16-girls’. Two consistent scores of 8.8 and 8.9 for Georgie Blades-Richardson gave her the overall top spot at under-13 level ahead of Caitlin Ayres (KGGS), with Sarah Cliffe (SWRHS) just taking the older age group by 0.1 ahead of Georgia Wright (Walton).
In the secondary advanced competition, very little separated Walton team-mates Imogen Gregory and Alice Macgowan on the two floor routines, with Imogen 0.1 ahead each time. However, Alice produced very powerful and controlled handsprings on the vault to take the overall top spot ahead of Imogen with Amy Rose (Walton) in third.
Results: Under-7 Girls - 1st Megan Fisher – Cliffedale, 2nd Maisie Collins – Allington & Sedgebrook, 3rd Amelia Hall – St Mary’s, 4th= Sophie Richardson - Huntingtower, 4th= Ella Walker – Huntingtower, 6th Gigi Granger – Ingoldsby; Under-7 Boys - 1st Tom Sweeney – St Mary’s, 2nd Christopher Smith-Rassmussen – Allington & Sedgebrook, 3rd Harry Clements – St Mary’s, 4th Daniel Barnaby – St Mary’s, 5th Jack Barnes – St Mary’s, 6th Charlie Rymer – Ingoldsby; Under-9 Girls - 1st Elle Jane Booton – Huntingtower, 2nd Roshni Brooke – Gonerby Hill Foot, 3rd Eleanor Bailey – Grantham Preparatory, 4th= Freya Hoe – Cliffedale, 4th= Cherry Clark – Cliffedale, 6th Eleanor Squires – Cliffedale; Under-9 Boys - 1st Oliver Denton – St Annes, 2nd Joseph Taylor – Cliffedale, 3rd Oliver Rymer – Ingoldsby, 4th Daniel Smith-Rassmussen – Allington & Sedgebrook, 5th Kaan Celik – Cliffedale, 6th Lewis Collins – Allington & Sedgebrook; Under-11 Girls - 1st= Molly Harby – Cliffedale, 1st= Katie Hewitt – National, 3rd Imogen Raistrick – Colsterworth, 4th= Annabelle Young – Colsterworth, 4th= Molly Aldous-Johnson – National, 6th Eleanor Monaghan – National; Under-11 boys - 1st Hal Dexter – Barrowby, 2nd Kyle Davidson – St Mary’s, 3rd Daniel Fabi – St Mary’s, 4th Marcel Ludlew – St Mary’s; Primary Girls Advanced - 1st Emily Morton – National, 2nd Charlotte Mears – Huntingtower, 3rd Lucy Valentine – St Mary’s, 4th Scarlett Heaton – St Mary’s, 5th Scarlett Armstrong – St Mary’s, 6th Katie Hitchcock – National; Under-13 Boys
1st Jacob Armstrong - King’s, 2nd Rhys Rymer - PRA, 3rd Ethan Richards-Cole - King’s, 4th Ryan Poole - King’s, 5th Daniel Watson - King’s, 6th Elliot Smith-Rassmussen – King’s; Under-13 Girls -
1st Georgie Blades-Richardson – SWRHS, 2nd Caitlin Ayres – KGGS, 3rd Courtney Desmond – Walton, 4th= Tia Whitfield – Walton, 4th= Natasha Botham – Walton, 4th=Imogen Hands – KGGS, 4th Kenya Watson – SWRHS; Under-16 Boys - 1st Billy Wilson – King’s, 2nd Anthony Matthews – PRA, 3rd Tom Wharmby – King’s, 4th Elliot Brown – King’s, 5th Will Mayer – King’s; Under-16 Girls - 1st Sarah Cliffe – SWRHS, 2nd Georgia Wright – Walton, 3rd Emma Lamb – KGGS, 4th Kadie Spence – SWRHS, 5th Asia O’Sullivan – KGGS, 6th= Emily Aldous-Johnson – Walton, 6th = Leanne Nicholson – Walton; Secondary Girls Advanced - 1st Alice Macgowan – Walton, 2nd Imogen Gregory – Walton, 3rd Amy Rose – Walton, 4th Melissa Moreton – KGGS, 5th Hannah Longland – Walton, 6th Chloe Kirby – Walton.