Northland gymnasts returned from the national championships in Blenheim last week with some good results and valuable competition experience.
The Step-5 Whangarei Academy of Gymnastics team did especially well in the tough competition against New Zealand's best gymnasts.
Claire Fuller and Sophia Cosson made it into the country's top 16to earn themselves the right to compete in the Step-5 Finals. In the finals, Cosson was 13th overall in division 1 and Fuller ranked 13th overall in division 2. Fuller also placed 13th on beam and 16th on the vault with Cosson 13th on the floor exercises. The pair also scored higher than 52.00, earning themselves a proficiency pin.
In division 2, WAGS teammate Maia Prochazka was 12th on the beam and 13th on the floor and Kerikeri's Aimee Leaming finished a creditable 10th on the floor.
WAGS' Pippa Benton was 12th on the vault and the floor in Step-6 and was very close to gaining a proficiency pin, achieving 51.9 total. She finished the competition with an overall ranking of 20th.
Another WAGS competitor, Kaitlyn Agnew, in Step-7 placed 10th on the vault and Hannah Russell finished 14th on floor.
In the boys' competition, Andrew Van der Linden from Kaitaia also qualified to compete in the finals, where he placed 17th overall and 11th on the vault. He also scored highly enough to earn a proficiency pin.
