Brentwoodian 2019

42 The mixed and boys’ teams headed to Stoke-on- Trent over the Bank Holiday weekend in May to compete in the floor and vault National Final. The U14 mixed team, consisting of Sophie Cooke, Alisha Ashraf, Isabella Haiser, Jackson Booth, Christopher Thompson and Oscar Tweed started on vault. Christopher performed a superb vault swiftly followed by Jackson who secured the highest vault score of the team. This was followed by some amazing vaulting from the rest of the team with Isabella’s hard work this year, clearly paying off. On the floor, the team all performed brilliantly with Sophie Cooke the standout, following her delightful performance as she gained the best floor score of the team. Oscar who used his amazing gymnastic skills to gain an impressive score admirably supported her. Although the team did not place in the medals, they should be very proud of their efforts. In the U19 boys’ competition William Howard, Thomas Howard, Gerald Tegede, Fedor Morgunov, Glebs Ribzamens started on floor. William, the youngest of our team, opened with a solid and confident routine. Then Gerry; his routine included body popping and so much creativity he really impressed the judges. Thomas Howard was next, performing his routine excellently and without hesitation. Fedor secured the top floor score of our team with a near faultless performance! Glebs, who stood in with only three weeks’ notice, performed amazingly for the team. Moving to vault and the boys scored the 2nd highest vault score total of the competition meaning that they finished just outside of the medals, placing 4th in the UK. Well done to both teams; we are very proud! Gymnastics Cross Country This academic year has seen numerous successes over cross country courses from a variety of age groups, with both individual and team accomplishments. The first event of the year was the opening round of the English Schools’ cup, which was represented by Junior (First and Second Years) and intermediate teams (Third and Fourth Years). Both the Junior boys and Intermediate girls were able to progress through to the Regional round where they would face some of the best athletes in the East region. The MESSA cross country championships was well attended by Brentwood school with full teams across all age groups. Stand-out team performances were the First Year boys, finishing in a very commendable 3rd place as well as a very impressive 5th for the First Year girls’ team. In addition Rory Philpot ran an excellent race in the Junior boys’ event to be placed in the top 15 individually along with Elliot Cordery finishing in 2nd place in the Senior boys’ race. The Junior Knole run is an extremely prestigious event that attracts a number of the best distance running schools in the country. The First and Second Year boys’ team lead by Rory Philpot was able to achieve a highly respectable team Bronze over an undulating and unforgiving course. The final event of the year was the Essex cross country team trials. All of the most talented junior athletes in the county were competing for a place in the team and Second Year, Rory Philpot, and First Year, Lois Hall, both finished in the top 16 to gain Essex selection, which is an incredible achievement. This year has seen numerous outstanding performances across a number of age groups highlighting the potential of further cross country successes in future years. By Elliot Cordery