The Isle of Man Gymnastics Association teams produced extremely high performances in the BG national finals in Birmingham last weekend. In a major step up in level of competition for the gymnasts against the top club performers from all over Britain, the girls took to the apparatus to produce several fine results.

Saturday saw the Grade 4 team of Holly Black, Samantha Crowe, Daisy McGarrigle & Nicole Burns compete. Two brilliant 5th places on Bars & Beam helped Holly to an excellent 8th place overall of the 52 finalists. A team captains performance saw Daisy take 6th on beam and with Samantha’s 9th on floor the team came home in a highly creditable 7th of the 13 teams.

Later in the day the grade 2 team of Nicole Thacker, Bethany Quayle and Abbey Kettle competed. Against high quality opposition the girls struggled to make the required scores, with Nicole finishing highest in 36th position with her top score on vault of 12.05.

On Sunday the grade 3 girls took to the pieces, with only two competing there was no chance of a team result, requiring three scores. Rebecca Johnson & Emily Munro both had solid rounds sticking routines on all four pieces. Rebecca finished in 15th of the 50 entrants, Emily in 28th; Rebecca peaked on floor with a very tidy 6th place finish.

The competition for Grade 1 again saw the Island unable to register a team score due to an injury to Grace Harrison, who was only able to compete on bars. This she did scoring a commendable 10.65, taking into account her injury. Tegan Dixon finished 38th of the 51 with highest place of 18th on Bars, but the star of the team was Natasha McCormac, who battled against a painful injury to her ankle to gain a 7th place on floor, helping her to 11th overall.
For the first foray into competition for the squad as a home nation the results were impressive, and the IOMGA looks forward to further progress within the sport. Full Results are available on Manx gymnastics website – www.manxgymnastics.co.uk