Refining routines for competitive year

Many medals: Gisborne trampolinists and tumblers had a successful outing at the Central Champs. Back (from left): Logan Brown, Hugo Emerre, James van Aswegen, Leah Scholefield, Gabrielle Wong, Lily Rolls, Isilel Kamoto. Front: Ngature Tuhura, Manaaki Wray, Sascha Dobson, Sophie Rolls, Ryan Phillips, Tyler Sheldrake, Arthur Tilghman, Charlie Holdsworth, Cael Smith, Kiara Kerekere, Haley Rolls and Oliver Tilghman. Picture by Liam Clayton

Gisborne's Central Champs got trampolinists and tumblers into competition mode and now they will be refining their routines to set themselves up for the year.

Tumbler Lily Rolls, 13, will compete at Rotorua this weekend and if she performs as well as she did at the Central Champs, she will qualify for the Australian national championships.

Lily claimed a silver medal in the girls' sub-junior international category at the Gisborne meet, which ran from February 28 till March 1.

Tumbler Capria Tamatea, 11, came back from a recent injury to win a gold medal in the girls' youth international section.

She will need a slightly better score at Rotorua to hit the Australian qualifying mark, however.

Gisborne's top trampolinists, too, will be out to improve on their scores but they are preparing for a North Island event in Auckland at the end of this month.

The Central Champs at the Electrinet Sports Centre were the first trampoline and tumbling competition of the year in New Zealand and attracted 120 competitors, 25 of them from Gisborne.

Gisborne competitors won gold medals in 22 events, silver in 11 and bronze in five.

Tobias Hodann, an exchange student from Germany, won gold medals in trampoline and the double-mini trampoline event in the men's 17-plus age group and he teamed up with James van Aswegen to win gold in the synchronised event.

Hodann, more used to the parkour training discipline, produced a triple back somersault and twist in his double-mini routine, Gisborne club coach Doug Callahan said.

James van Aswegen had a gold in double-mini and silver in trampoline in the boys' 15-to-16-year age category and steppped up an age level to win the synchronised event alongside Hodann.

Gisborne duo Cael Smith and Ryan Phillips teamed up for gold in the synchronised boys' under-10 category and Arthur Tilghman and Manaaki Wray claimed silver.

Charlie Holdsworth, 10, won gold at youth-international level on trampoline and double-mini.

“He's a little fighter and really tries hard,” Callahan said.