Local teams impress

AIRBORNE: Twelve-year-old Wanganui gymnast Troy Rea finished third equal on the rings in the Step 4 Boys grade at the weekend. PHOTO/ROBBIE HILL 050715WCSUPTROY-REA

Hometown gymnasts showed good form at the 2015 Wanganui Open Artistic competition at the weekend.

Hosted by the Wanganui Boys and Girls Gym Club, the competition attracted about 160 children from 10 gymnastics clubs throughout the North Island.

In the Step 5 Girls events, Timara Wallace finished fourth overall and qualified for the nationals with a second on the floor.

Step 4 girl Crista Yum was third overall after winning the bar and finishing third equal on the vault, while Katja Mokha was runner-up on beam, Joella Hylton third on the floor and the Step 4 team of Yum, Mokha, Hylton and Holly Burrows were second.

Step 1 girl competitor Sienna Gilmore won the beam, while her Step 2 clubmate Anna Hughes was fourth overall with a second on the bar.

In the Level 2 boys, Jayden Fergusson won the rings, vault and parallel bar and was second on the high bar, the pommel and the floor to claim an overall win.

Level 4 boys, gymnast William Warburton won the high bar, vault and parallel bar and was second on the floor to claim second in his grade. Amardin Firaza was third on the pommel and vault to finish third overall, while Troy Rea had thirds on the floor and high bar and equal third on the rings.

Meanwhile, head coach Kelly Taylor-Ward said club member Jonathan Maples, 14, was competing in level 7 in Christchurch the same weekend.

"He made three apparatus finals and won a gold medal on the high bar. He is currently attending a three-day national development squad training clinic in Christchurch," she said.