Bermuda Gymnasts Win Medals In New York
The Bermuda Gymnastics team traveled to New York City this past weekend for their second appearance at the “Manhattan Classic Invitational”.
The meet was an important one for the team, as it served as one of two competitions within the 2012 season where the gymnasts could earn the qualifying score necessary to compete at the USAIGC International Championships held in Florida in June. The BGA has been participating in these Championships for over 10 years and hope to send a strong team this June.
In Manhattan, the BGA had thirteen girls participating in three levels of competition: Tabytha Hofheins (14, Warwick Acad) participated in the “Platinum” level which was the highest for the Bermuda squad, in the “Gold” level was Sadia Wilson (11, BHS), Sydney Mason (13, BHS), Zantae Dill (13, Saltus), Danielle Wall (12, BHS), Clara James (12, BHS), Anna Francoeur (9, Warwick Acad), Zekiah Lewis (11, West Pembroke), and Samantha Soares (11, Warwick Acad).
Bermuda also sent a team for the “Silver” level: Anah Lightbourne (10, Harrington Sound), Tomei Talbot (11, Whitney), Trinity Wilson (11, Warwick Acad), and Maya Malpas (10, Saltus). The girls were accompanied by head coach and program director Duke Nelligan and assistant coach Mandi Baughman.
In the challenging Platinum level, Tabytha Hofheins found the top of the medal podium many times: placing 1st on bars, beam, floor and in the all-around with a 33.150. Hofheins, the reigning Island Games bars champion, upgraded her dismount to a double back flip for this competition.
“I’m so proud of Tab for being aggressive on the new dismount. She held nothing back and made her goal. It’s great for our team as well: all the younger girls saw her accomplish this and it puts a little more fire inside of them saying, hey, I want to be the next one to do that” says Head Coach Duke Nelligan.
Even more excitement came in the Gold level meet, in which Sadia Wilson led Bermuda to a first place finish, beating out eight other strong teams. Wilson also won the balance beam and all-around titles in her age group, Junior A,(9.25 and 35.175, respectively).
“Sadia continues to be a focused and consistent gymnast in training and it is paying off. Her performance this weekend is especially commendable as although she had been sidelined with a hand injury the week prior, she continued training and did all she could to prepare. We’re very proud of her” says Coach Mandi Baughman.
Bermuda had many other strong results in Junior A Gold division, especially on floor exercise: Clara James placing 5th with a 9.0, Danielle Wall placing 7th with a 8.875, Zekiah Lewis with a 8.8 for 8th place, and Samantha Soares finishing 12th with an 8.0.
Anna Francoeur and Clara James both had solid 8.75s on balance beam to tie for fourth place. In the Junior B Gold division, Sydney Mason won the silver medal in the all-around (33.85) and on the uneven bars (8.125). Zantae Dill had her highest finish on the floor exercise, garnering a 8.95 for 5th place.
In the silver level division, the top all around finisher from Bermuda was Anah Lightbourne, who scored a 33.225 for 6th and an impressive 9.1 on balance beam for a bronze medal. Tomei Talbot had an outstanding performance on the bars and won the gold medal with an 8.375.
Trinity Wilson also had her top finish of the day on bars, placing 6th, while Maya Malpas earned her top mark of the day on vaulting with an 8.2. The young team finished with a 5th place team trophy and another competition experience under their belt.
The Bermuda team also won the “Team Spirit Award” for the competition, voted on by the judges for the group displaying the most excitement, support, and sportsmanship.
Bermuda had 5 gymnasts earn an all around mark high enough to qualify for the USAIGC International Championships: Tabytha Hofheins, Sadia Wilson, Sydney Mason, Danielle Wall, and Anah Lightbourne.
The remaining gymnasts will have another chance to attain the 33.00 score necessary on March 31st, when Bermuda hosts teams from the USA and Cayman Islands for the “International Gymnastics Challenge” at the St. David’s National Gymnastics Center.
