Geraldton gold rush as Batavia Gymnastic Club has September to remember

To say Batavia Coast Gymnastics club has had a busy September would be an understatement to say the least. The club has participated in three major competitions since the start of the month, with their junior and senior members performing well across the board. First was the Northern Territory championships in Darwin with seven club members representing the State against teams from the NT, ACT, SA and Tasmania. The WA level four and five teams won first place. Neave O’Neill, Elise Kalpers-Gray, Shelby Drew, Bella Knight and Dora Burns all competed across various levels as club owner Fiona Sherrell was selected as one of the WA team coaches. The Bigham Cup was also held in Darwin at the same time for level six and seven gymnasts, with Geraldton having two members Stella Maher and Luca Priolo compete across the five disciplines of beam, floors, bars, vault and all-around competition. Luca Priolo was the only WA gymnast to win a medal at the meet as she took out gold for her floor routine with a score of 12.300 just 0.067 ahead of second place. Then came the Parade of Stars competition in Perth from September 17-19. It is the biggest competition in WA with more than 750 gymnasts competing over three days of gruelling competition, including one mammoth 14-hour session. Batavia Coast Gymnastics entered 105 gymnasts aged from 5 to 15 years and dominated, taking home a haul of medals and winning champion club. Enza Boynton, Danielle Enecio, and Olive Thorp dominated their respective levels each, winning four gold medals and overall champion for their division. There was also plenty of other individual success as Dora Burns took gold in the vault, beam and floor while Rahni Wills took out the bars and beam, Sarah Buswell won the floor and beam and Jorja Crowley won gold for floor. Lastly came the WA junior State Championships with Batavia Coast Gymnastics entering two teams into the WA championship. Gymnasts competed across the floor disciplines of vault, beam, floor and uneven bars. The level three team won first overall out of 29 teams competing with a combined score of 108.700 beating out college Park by just one point. The level four team placed second overall with 31 teams competing. Sarah Buswell and Shelby Drew were both overall State Champions in their divisions. Dora Burns was runner-up State champion while Bella Knight and Ruby Dillon were third overall in their divisions. First place level three team members: Olive Thorp, Billie Lawrie, Mae Heberle, Alice Kuser, Saoirse Brennan, Summer Kezler, Kara Pothan Second place level 4 team members: Bella Knight, Darcy Knight, Shelby Drew, Dora Burns, Jessica Atkins, Sarah Buswell, Ruby Dillon