Gym kids make mark at nationals

Wanganui Boys & Girls Gym Club members Genna Maples, Millie Manning (sitting) and Jonathan Maples flew the flag at the Gymsports National Championships last week. PHOTO/KELLY TAYLOR-WARD 171013WCSPGYM1

It's not easy taking on the city kids and the near full-timers on the gym mats, but the members of the Wanganui Boys & Girls Gym Club continue to punch above their weight at national level.

Seven of them were at the Gymsports National championships during the school holidays last week, leaving behind their regular red uniforms to wear blue and green as they combined with 10 Palmerston North athletes to form a Wanganui-Manawatu team at Napier's Pettigrew Green Arena.

At her first nationals in the Step 6 Artistic Gymnastics competition, Genna Maples won a silver medal on the vault, placed sixth on the bar and made it to the all-round final where 32 gymnasts out of 62 qualify.

A level 6 gymnast and member of the New Zealand under-14 development squad, Jonathan Maples also earned a silver medal on vault and according to spokeswoman Karen Hughes also produced "a stunning routine" during the floor competition to grab another silver.

Maples also placed eighth on the parallel bars and qualified to the all-round final with a personal best on pommel, which was a respectable ninth place finish.

Millie Manning was disappointed to just miss out on a medal in the Step 8 division after an administrative glitch.

The qualification process differs from juniors and Manning would finish seventh overall, despite a fall on the beam and qualified into three apparatus finals. She finished fourth on vault, sixth on bar and was then awarded a bronze medal for her floor routine, which Hughes said was unfortunately later amended to fourth "due to an error in results gathering".

These three competed from October 9-12, while the trampoline athletes Michaela Davey, Jamie O'Hagan, Briar Limpus and Tim Butler had their chance from October 3-6.

Limpus made the synchronised trampoline final in the 15-16 years division, teaming with another gymnast from Gymsports Manakau who istrained by ex-Wanganui coach Leo Rodrigues.

Despite having never trained together before the tournament, the pair placed seventh.

In double mini trampoline Butler made the final in a competitive 15-16 years grade, finishing a close fourth behind gymnasts from Auckland.

"All the gymnasts did an amazing job, they represented their region very well and came away with some great results" said head coach Kelly Taylor-Ward. "It is very hard for a small region to have gymnasts of this calibre, contesting for medals against gymnasts from large regions and clubs who, particularly in the senior artistic gymnastics levels, train upwards of 25 hours a week."

In total the group achieved 13 placings in the top 10 of their events.