Honiton’s champions miss out on national finals

Catie and Hallie and Devon and Enzo won regional qualifiers, but last weekend’s national finals cancelled

Two gold-medal-winning partnerships from Honiton Gymnastics Club missed out on the opportunity to represent the South West region at the national finals, which should have taken place at the weekend.

Catie Lee and Hallie Bennett, and Enzo Migliari and Devon Roe-Lavery won the regional acrobatic gymnastics heats in Yate in March, which earned both duos qualification to compete against the best performers from each region in the UK.

Unfortunately, due to the coronavirus pandemic, all sporting events are current cancelled.

“It’s a huge shame for our gymnasts,” said James Reddy, who is a board member at Honiton Gymnastics Club and also coaches all four gymnasts. “It was a tremendous achievement for them to win the regional qualifiers and a great honour to represent the South West at the national finals.”

Hallie and Catie were hoping to continue their winning steak, after also taking gold at the Pat Wade Classic in February, an ‘open’ national competition. At the South West Prelims—in the International Development Plan (IDP) grade—they scored the highest two scores of the whole competition, with a technical score of 17.50 out of 20 and an artistry score of 8.55 out of 10.

“Hallie and Catie have been continually improving,” said James, “scoring well both technically and artistically. The regional qualifiers was the first time they have competed a double somersault in their routine, increasing their difficulty significantly. This was HalLie and Catie’s last opportunity to compete at development plan finals, as they move into the international ‘11-16’ category next year.”

Devon and Enzo, who were competing in their first regional competition together, won the Grade 4 men’s pairs event. “The boys did exceptionally well in their first competition together,” said James, “so it’s a real pity that they weren’t able to represent their region and show their development on the national stage.”

In addition to the two gold-medal winners, Honiton gymnast also brought home a number of other medals, with four partnerships qualifying for the inter-regional finals, which were due to take place in Southampton two weeks ago.

“We had a very strong team competing at the prelims in Yate,” added James, “with more competitors than any other cub in the region. It’s extremely competitive and the standard increases year-on-year. We’re proud of all of our gymnasts performances, and many also finished just below the medals after producing excellent routines.”

Despite not currently being able to train together at Honiton Gymnastics Centre, the club’s gymnasts are still working hard week-in-week out, with all competitive gymnasts completing daily training programmes and attending coach-led Zoom sessions up to four times per week. Recreational gymnasts are also being given the opportunity to attend coach-led Zoom sessions at least once per week.

Hallie and Catie’s balance routine here:

Hallie and Catie’s dynamic routine here:

You can follow Honiton Gymnastics Club on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/HonitonGymnasticsClub/

FULL RESULTS

The full list of Honiton results from the 2020 South West Acrobatic Gymnastics Prelims was:

Grade 2 out-of-age Women’s Group

Evie Hussey, Layla Hawkins and Grace Prowse – GOLD, 23.55 (Qualified for Inter-regional finals)

Lily Cantrill-Hore, Isabelle Markham and Evie Sefton – SILVER, 23.40

Grade 2 Women’s Pair

Phoebe Skinner and Maryanne Steele – 4th, 24.00

Grade 2 out-of-age Mixed Pair

Orlando Migliari and Heidi Kavanagh-Smith – SILVER

Grade 3, out-of-age Men’s Pair

Josh Rolinson and Riley Connett – GOLD, 23.15 (Qualified for Inter-regional finals)

Grade 2 Mixed Pair

Thomas Berry and Imogen Clarke – SILVER, 23.20

Grade 3 Women’s Group

Esme Shackleton, Phoebe Boland-Davies and Ella Till – SILVER, 24.15

Evie Kirk, Grace Lawrence and Bethany Holmes – BRONZE, 23.70

Freya Gary, Macy Roberts and Tekka Moffett – 5th, 23.00

Grade 4 Women’s Pair

Olivia Wotton and Megan Wood – 6th, 24.85

Ella Bryant|Holly Wheeler – 8th, 24.25

Grade 4 Men’s Pair

Devon Roe-Lavery and Enzo Migliari – GOLD, 23.20 (Qualified for National finals)

Grae 4 Mixed Pair

Daniel Slator and Emily Mungovan – 4th, 25.45

Owen Naughton and Scarlet Coles – 5th, 25.15

Grade 4 Women’s Group

Matilda Clayton, Daisy Clayton and Emily Lawrence – Silver, 24.45 (Qualified for Inter-regional finals)

Kalani Dale, Elwyn Spence and Ella Mortimore – 4th, 23.50

Katharine Wilson, Abigail Wilson and Darcey Lane – 4th, 23.50

Nyssa Lane, Madison Gilbert and Daisy Reuben – 6th, 22.85

Lucie Sivier-Voller|Harleigh Fry and Avie Whitton – 7th, 22.75

Alana Wallis, Isabel Sullivan and Isla Tomkins – 8th, 22.70

Helena Bruce, Abigail Lane and Arabella Reed – 12th, 22.20

Jasmine Wood, Hettie Behan and Faith Huxley – 13th, 21.70

Daisy Spiller, Josie Cole and Sasha Bailey – 19th, 18.10

Youth Men’s Group

Devon Roe-Lavery, Max Sharland, Joe Shackleton and Max Macdonald – SILVER, 23.90 (Qualified for Inter-regional finals)

Youth Women’s Group

Nia Collins, Maeve Garnsworthy and Tilly Knee – 4th, 24.15

Courtney Richards, Fern Limbert and Tamsyn Terrett – 5th, 24.10

Ava Collins, Maicey Bennett and Chloe Hutsby – 6th, 23.95

Ruby Rolinson, Ami Hawkins and Isla Brun – 10th, 22.80

Grade 5 Women’s Group

Kiera Bonetta, Skye Symons and Laila Furneaux-Harris – Bronze, 46.20 (24.00 + 22.20)

IDP Women’s Pair

Catherine Lee and Hallie Bennett – 52.65 (26.50 + 26.15) (Qualified for National finals)

Detailed results are available at https://www.gymdata.co.uk/events/competitions.aspx?eid=1011