ALEX STRACHAN CUP 3rd-4th MARCH 2007

16 Gymnasts from Heathrow Aerobic Gymnastics Club competed last weekend at the Alex Strachan Cup in Portsmouth. This was the very first national event this year and also a very important one. The scores from the FIG Competition played a role in the selection for the French Open Championships in France, which will be held in May of this year.

Saturday was the NAC Day (National Code of Points), and Heathrow had 6 gymnasts competing in the national development competition. A total of 30 competitors from 13 different clubs took part in this event. Heathrow had 3 newcomers: Hiba Omer, 10; Helen Turner, 11; and Rhian Thomas, 11. Also competing was Chloe Byne who competed for the first time last year at the Welsh Open. The girls were simultaneously excited and nervous, however, they did their best and enjoyed the experience.
Chloe Byne made mistakes in the supports family and had a deduction of 0.5 for a missing group. Chloe scored 12.9 and came in 22nd. Helen Turner made some technical errors in two of her difficulty elements and this affected her total score. She received a score of 12.9 and came 21st. Rhian Thomas scored 12.25 and took 28th place. Occasionally, as we all know, the presence of a crowd can be overwhelming, and so, for Hiba, the spotlight erased her memory of her routine”
However, she was allowed to perform her routine once more just for the crowd who supported her with great cheers. We know that next time, Hiba will be better prepared to compete under the pressure of competition.
In Group 1, Heathrow Aerobics Gymnastics was represented by Ella Decruz, Siana Williams and Emma Bevan.
All three girls performed very well and managed to improve on their scores from last year.

Ella Decruz had a total score of 14.85 and took home well deserved Silver medal.

Siana Williams received a total score of 14.6 and came in 7th.Emma Bevan made fantastic progress and managed to score 14.7, but, after a line deduction of 0.1, had to settle for the total score of 14.6 and 8th place.

Heathrow Aerobic Gymnastics had 10 gymnasts competing on Sunday.
In Group 1, with Sophie Lewis absent due to injury, the Heathrow team was represented by Tyler Ansell and Emily Keane. Both girls had recently moved from the NAC into the FIG, and this was their first competition in the FIG.
Both girls performed very good routines and were full of confidence. Out of 19 gymnasts from 7 different clubs, Tyler Ansell was 8th with a score of 15.05 and Emily Keane came in 10th with a score of 15.00.
In the Group 2 Competition, 17 gymnasts competed from 7 different clubs. Heathrow had 5 competitors in this age group. Rosie Webster had a total score of 17.00, just barely missing the bronze medal by 0.3. Rosie was very closely followed by Siana Shipley, who performed a beautiful routine, scoring 16.2, although we feel that Siana deserved a much higher score for artistic. Siana took 5th place. Sian Hill who is going from strength to strength had presented a very good routine but made some technical errors and had to settle for the 7th place with a total score of 15.95. Natalie Green, still recovering after her shoulder injury, had scored 15.00 and was 12th, followed by Kirsty Banfield with a total score of 15.00. In our opinion, Kirsty should have been given a much higher score on her artistic. However this time she was placed 13th.

In the group2 Trios competition Heathrow had a trio of Natalie Green, Sian Hill and Rosie Webster. The girls been only working together for three weeks and had a brand new routine. They performed very well and had a total score of 15.850 receiving a very well deserved gold medal!

In the senior competition, Heathrow Aerobics Gymnastics had two gymnasts: Christina Fosshiem and Stephanie Fois. Stephanie presented a very-well executed routine, scoring 8.00 in artistic and scoring the second highest difficulty score of 2.150. Stephanie scored 17.35 but sadly missed out on the bronze medal by a mere 0.25. Christina Fossheim made some mistakes in her difficulty elements, losing the supports family, and this unfortunately gave Christina a heavy deduction of 0.5. Christina scored 15.7 and came in 6th. Both girls will be eligible for the National squad trial next weekend in preparation for the French Open Championship.
We hope that Christina will have a chance to show everyone what she is capable of achieving because we know Christina has massive potential.
In the senior individual male competition, Sherrick Reid performed for the fist time and made everyone proud. He performed a very strong routine with powerful jumps and good dynamic strength elements. Sherrick had a total score of 14.950 and received a gold medal! We think Sherrick has tremendous potential to be a very successful competitor in aerobic gymnastics in the future.
Comments: This event is the very first competition this year, and our team has performed well. The Club’s Gymnasts came away with 1 silver and 2 gold medals that we are all very proud of. We would like to congratulate all our gymnasts on their participation and performances at the Alex Strachan Cup.

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