ASPIRE Gymnastics 2795 put in some of their best performances of the year to score a podium finish in the recent Level 4 State Gymnastics Championships teams event in Sydney.
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Heidi Twohill, Emma Jones, Shanese Lane-Bergan, Isabel King, Ebony Pender and Shayla Winwood-Smith all represented the Bathurst club at the Sydney Gymnastics and Aquatic Centre.
The six-strong group were rewarded for their consistent performances across every apparatus as they managed to come home with silver banding.
However, the best news of the championships for the Bathurst club came through Twohill, Jones, Lane-Bergan and King in the teams event.
Up against nine other teams in their session the Aspire quartet held their nerve to come away with a bronze medal, much to the delight of their coach Sophie Godleman.
“We finished with a total of 103.375. The team who finished first in our session, Shire Gymnastics, scored 112.9,” Godleman said.
“We then learned afterwards that they scored the overall highest mark for all 103 of the teams there. That was really exciting for us to hear that we competed against the best team there and finished third.
“It was an amazing experience for our girls to compete against a group like that. Dubbo PCYC also finished second in our session so it was really nice to see two country clubs up there on the podium.
“Some clubs were so big that they had more than one team. For instance, we were up against Shire Gymnastics A, and clubs like that have big numbers and facilities.
“It was super exciting for our team. The girls couldn’t believe it when they heard Aspire get called out.”
Jones finished with the highest all-round score with 35.7. The strong performance backed up her blue ribbon from the Sydney Level 3-4 Gala Competition.
The best individual performance of the tournament came from Winwood-Smith on the floor. Her score of 9.45 was just .05 off a blue ribbon.
Godleman said the group should also holds their heads high after receiving their silver banding.
“Not one person received a score lower than 8,” she said.
“You can learn from the experience and try shoot for the next level when you go again.
“I’m just so proud of them all for making it to state. They knew the judging a state would be harsher, and that’s always going to be the case when you’re trying to find out who’s the best of the best.”
The Aspire level 3 gymnastics are up next at State Championships. They compete at the same venue over October 21 and 22.
