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Page 7 - FRANCESCA AND CHRIS MAKE DOUBLE GOLD MEDAL DEBUT PLUS MEDAL SUCCESS FOR SOUTH TYNESIDE!
Chris Webster and Francesca Harland made their first appearance as a new Mixed Pair and claimed the Gold Medals in the 11-16 Age Groups for Spelthorne with a great competition including 27.8000 in their Balance. Chris and Francesca made their competitive debut at the International Winterthur Cup in Switzerland in October where they also won Gold Medals, and on their U.K. debut, they added a second Gold Medal to their collection. We first saw the new pair at Christmas where they immediately impressed showing good technique and execution, and Chris and Fran told Gymnastics Online “We are really pleased about winning gold in Bristol. We have trained together since last July and won a gold medal in Zurich, Switzerland at the Winterthur Cup International competition. We are slightly nervous but very excited about the British Championships and we hope it goes well. We get on well and enjoy training at Spelthorne and we hope to continue to progress.” Chris and Fran add to an already impressive line up of Mixed Pairs in this Age Group in British Acrobatics. King Edmund’s Kaman Mitchell and Tasha Lawrence won Silver after performing just their Dynamic where they performed a graceful routine, with high technical skills which were beautifully executed to score 28.5000, and we can’t wait to see Kaman and Tash again at the British Championships where they have a great chance of a Podium Place on this form.
We also include some superb photos of the new Spelthorne Womens Group Casey Morrison, Emily Grove and Victoria Lamkin who produced 2 excellent routines with dynamic particularly impressive scoring 28.000. The girl’s choreography perfectly matched their excellent dance as they showed great expression. The trio also celebrated a 17th Birthday by sweeping to Gold with terrific routines which brought huge cheers from the audience. Southampton collected Silver and Bronze Medals after Harefield’s Hannah Feeney, Claire - Louise Thompson and Grace Blacklock withdrew, and it promises to be a thrilling contest in Fenton Manor.
South Tyneside also produced strong performances with new partnerships displaying their emerging talent ahead of the British Championships. Past performers include Gemma Middleton & Amy Clarke who placed 1st in Belgium in 1998, and won Bronze in the World Championships in 2000 in Seniors and bronze at the World Games in Japan in 2002. Today South Tyneside’s fine tradition continues with some excellent performances including Constance Moscrop and Ashton Butler who won Bronze in the 11-16 Womens Pairs. Louise Lee & Hannah Johnstone also won Silver in Belgium and at the 2006 British Championships. The women’s group Nikkita Cox, Candice Slater & Coral Patrick placed 2nd at the British Tournament in 2005 and were in first position after Saturday’s qualifiers. In an exclusive interview with Gymnastics Online the girls said “Our partnership have been together for just over a year. We achieved 2nd place at the British Tournament, and just missed out on our opportunity for possible World Championships selection due to an unfortunate fall in the second Trial. Not long after, Coral broke her arm coming down from a balance which prevented us competing for 7 months. We have just competed at Bristol and we are delighted to be back on the Competition Circuit and hope we will achieve high for many years to come”.
All photos on this page are copyright of Cherry-Anne Ballantyne and must not be copied or reproduced in any way without permission. Click here to see more fantastic photos from the Bristol International in our 23 page photo special !
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