State champions win big

Level 6 gymnast, Kelly Briggs, is Gunnedah’s newest State Gymnastics Champion, having had a highly successful competition in Sydney last weekend.

Kelly fought off the opposition to claim gold on vault (9.70), bronze on bars (9.466), gold on floor (9.525) and claimed the gold medal in the all-around with a total of 37.324, and the gold medal in the city vs country teams event.

Training partner, Mikayla Ferguson, competing in National Level 7, brought home the silver medal in the all-around, after receiving silver on vault, fifth place on beam, silver on floor and silver for the country vs city teams event.

Senior Level 5 gymnast, Mia Geddes, wowed the audience with her vault score of 9.70 to take the gold medal on this apparatus, and also claimed the bronze medal on floor to rank sixth in the overall competition and claim silver in the teams event.

Team mate, Bianca Bayliss, produced a high-quality bar routine to secure the silver medal on this apparatus and a healthy seventh place overall individually, and together with Mia, won silver in the teams event.

Junior gymnasts Lilah Edmunds, Hadley Durrant and Kate Randall all performed creditably in their first open competition. Kate ranked fourth in the vault, and was a member of the second place team. Lilah and Hadley put in consistent performances on all apparatus.

Next weekend, 23 gymnasts will compete in Tamworth at the NW Championships. For most gymnasts, this will be the final competition for the 2024 season, however, the five Level 5 gymnasts will be joined by Ruby Cygan to contest the State Clubs Championships in Sydney in two weeks’ time. This is a team only event, with apparatus medals being awarded to teams for their combined apparatus totals, rather than individual performances.

Following that event, gymnasts will spend time learning new skills and combinations in preparation for moving to a higher level in 2025, and the focus will shift slightly as the club brings together the annual Bodies in Motion program to be presented to the general community in November.