South East Regional Qualifier

The South East Regional Qualifier took place on Sunday 7th April at Guildford Spectrum. More than one hundred girls were competing throughout the day in a variety of age groups in a bid to not only to be crowned regional champion, but to receive the honor of representing the South East region at the national finals in May.

First up in Round 1 were Lily Clarke-Moss, Annabella Higgins and Isabelle Millen in Compulsory 3, alongside the up and coming Maggie Rees and Georgia Fookes in South East National 5. Lily showed good composure throughout the competition and passed the very demanding Compulsory 3 programme with just a couple of small mistakes on beam and floor, achieving a score of 52.750. A couple of uncharacteristic mistakes from her teammates, Annabella and Izzie, on bars and beam kept them off the top places, however Annabella excelled on R&C where she placed 2nd. In National 5, Maggie and Georgia hit their routines cleanly showing some impressive work with great composure and poise. Maggie came 3rd on both bars and floor on her way to an overall score of 60.550, passing her grade with distinction and narrowly missing out on a podium place, finishing 4th overall. She was followed closely by teammate Georgia who posted a score of 59.600 overall, placing her 5th and also passing her grades with flying colours.

Round 2 presented an opportunity for Stacey Mapara to compete her Compulsory 2 routines before she heads to Stoke-on-Trent to participate in the national finals next month. She showed great spirit to recover following mistakes on bars and beam but missed out on a top spot as a result.

Round 3 saw Charlotte Barnard compete in the National 3 grade. She performed excellently on her first four apparatus, including a superb beam routine that earned 2nd place. However a couple of falls on bar in the final rotation resulted in a 6th place finish overall, snatching away what would have been a very well deserved podium place.
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The final round showcased Leila Sweeney Zinman and Heidi Woodhatch at their first major competition where they competed in the Compulsory 5 grade. Both performed well and showed little sign of nerves as they hit 8 out of 10 routines cleanly between the two of them, with the only falls coming on the beam.