Pipers Vale Gymnasts Kaycee Child and India Goodman have made it through to the next stage of the Club Grade Five championships after strong performances in the regional rounds.

Pipers Vale Gymnasts Kaycee Child and India Goodman have made it through to the next stage of the Club Grade Five championships after strong performances in the regional rounds.

Up against 22 other gymnasts who had also qualified from an earlier county round, Child scored 61.50 to finish first, while Goodman was not far behind in second with a score of 61.30.

Both girls did particularly well on the floor, with Goodman scoring 12.40 and Child 12.65, while the pair also excelled on the range and conditioning exercise, Goodman scoring 12.95 and Child 12.85. These were the highest marks of the day on both these two pieces.

The scores were close at the end of the competition as, with third place scoring 61.25, it meant that Goodman had secured second place by 0.05 points, while Child had taken the regional title of club Grade 5 champion by just 0.25.

Pipers Vale coach Stacey Penfold said: “This was my first regional champion and I am over the moon with both girls. To win was great but to get the top two places was fantastic.”

In Club Grade Six, Pipers Vale had four gymnasts competing in the form of Lorena Hardwick, Alice Woollat, Katie Dodman and Emily Baker.

Up against 34 gymnasts from all over the region, it was clear Nicky Bruce's students would have their work cut out against a very strong field.

Hardwick held it together brilliantly however to go clean with a number of really high scores, particularly her total of 12.90 on floor.

Overall, Hardwick's total of 63.650 was enough to put her in second place and take the silver medal.

Elsewhere, Dodman enjoyed a good competition, making no real mistakes to go clean and finish 12th, while mistakes on beam for Woollat, as well as mistakes on bars and floor for Baker, left them slightly further down the field in 13th and 15th respectively.