Honiton medallists to take on the best in the UK

Five gymnastics partnerships win chance to compete in national finals

Honiton’s crop of young gymnasts made their mark at the South West Prelims competition in Sherborne last weekend, bringing home 10 partnership medals and five regional titles.

The successes mean that five of the club’s top partnerships have now qualified to compete at the National Development Plan Finals in Stoke-on-Trent in May.

All Honiton partnerships that qualified for national finals were competing in novice Grades 1 and 2. In addition, some ‘open age’ partnerships competed in intermediate Grade 3.

“The regional prelims kick off the acrobatic gymnastics season, so it is promising to start off the year with such a high level of success,” said Honiton Gymnastics Club coach Melissa Pendrick. “Only one partnership from each category is selected to represent the south west at the national finals – it’s an honour to have so many of our gymnasts make the cut.”

Honiton’s gold medals were won by:

• Grade 1 Girls’ Pair: Katherine Wilson & Abigail Wilson (Recreational Competition Group)
• Grade 1 Men’s Pair: Thomas Merrick & Joe Shackleton (Potential Group)
• Grade 2 Mixed Pair: Joshua Cambridge & Esme Shackleton (Squad Acro 2)
• Grade 2 Girls’ Trio: Maeve Garnsworth, Harriet Wigham & Isabel Sullivan (Club Acro 1)
• Grade 2 Open Age Girls’ Trio: Maddie Nicholls, Paige Ingledew & Jaime-Lee Ayres (Club Acro 2)

Thomas Merrick & Joe Shackleton particularly impressed the judges with 8.80 for artistry and the second highest total score of the whole day.

Grade 1 Mixed Pair William Counsell & Emily Mungovan – members of the club’s Potential Group – have also been given the opportunity to attend the National Development Plan finals after taking silver in their category. All gymnasts will perform against top performers from across the UK on 14 and 15 May at Fenton Manor in Stoke-on-Trent.

In all, 44 gymnasts from Honiton Gymnastics Club competed in Sherborne last weekend. Further medals were won by:

• Elyse Hinde & Daisy Spiller – silver in Grade 1 Girls’ Pairs
• Kian Thomas & Hallie Bennett – bronze in Grade 1 Open Age Mixed Pairs
• Josh Rolinson & Phoebe Wakley – silver in Grade 2 Mixed Pairs
• Max Sharland & Ellis Cousens – silver in Grade 2 Men’s Pairs

Another 40 Honiton gymnasts, performing at higher grades, will compete in Taunton next weekend.

Melissa added: “It’s wonderful to have so many medal winners, but we’re also very proud of all the other Honiton gymnasts who competed. We had gymnasts as young as five-years-old performing in their first ever regional competition, all of whom have many years of competitions ahead of them.”

Honiton Gymnastics Club has enjoyed considerable success in recent years. It currently has more than 200 members and classes are proving so popular that it has waiting lists for all of its recreational groups.