Yet another successful SA championships were held at Centurion Gymnastics Centre earlier this month.
In the Senior section, Caitlin Rooskrantz (Jhb Gymnastics Centre) won the All Around competition, with JGC clubmate Naveen Daries placing second and Angela Maguire (Centurion Gymnastics Centre) placing third overall.
All three qualified for the team for World Championships, to take on the best in the world, in Doha, Qatar in late October.
World championships are a big step towards qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the girls are preparing hard for this.
On day two of the competition, the apparatus finals, Maguire went on to win gold on vault, silver on beam & floor and Rooskrantz won bar and beam, with 2018 Commonwealth Games competitor Daries winning gold on floor, silver on bar and a bronze on beam.
In the Junior competition Daries’ sister Zelme (Jhb Gymnastics Centre) was first overall, with clubmate Garcelle Napier finishing second and Tamsyn Bessit from Visions, placing third.
The apparatus finals saw Zelme win gold on bar and floor and a silver on beam, Nkazimlo Matyolo also from JGC won gold on vault and silver on floor, with Erin Bell from Durban North Gymnastics winning gold on beam and silver on bar and vault.
Napier also won a silver medal in the junior floor final and being the youngest competitor at these championships, is one to watch out for in the future.
Says JGC head coach Ilse Pelser: ‘I was extremely pleased with our results. It was a goal for our team to win both the senior and the junior national title again so placing first and second all around in both competitions was extra special.’
Added fellow coach Candice Cronje, who competed at the 2006 Commonwealth Games: ‘Being head coach for the junior girls at the JGC and seeing how far they’ve come this year, is testament to their hard work and dedication. It’s an honour to work with these girls, but also to be part of a national programme that is growing.’
PHOTO: a proud Zelme Darries (left) and Rooskrantz with their trophies