Finishing up the English Championships of 2017 were the juniors. As expected the AA title went to City of Birmingham’s Taeja James who now holds both domestic titles. Taeja started on beam where she didn’t have her best day, a fall on her new round off straight back which looked good on the feed, but she was obviously off line. She fell again on her punch front, but the rest of her work was clean and well performed, especially her excellent triple twist dismount.
On floor Taeja was very strong today other than coming out of her wolf turn earlier than she’d have planned so missing the triple, this was an excellent routine, and she’s one of the highest scoring juniors in the world this year on this piece. One and a half to triple twist with the tiniest adjustment on landing, double tuck with again a minimal adjustment on landing, straight front to double twisting straight front, and yet again a very strong landing there today. Two and a half twist to finish, a very good routine.
On vault, we saw the full twisting Yurchenko where she was a tiny bit short by her usual standards giving her a slightly low landing and causing a pace forward, and the tsuk full (or rather the Kazamatsu), today in the tucked position rather than straight.
Finshing on bars, blind in, high Jaeger, then the new Ricna which she caught without issue, just a little loss of leg form. Toe on,shoot half to the low bar, shoot back to high bar, giant full, and the full out dismount.
About a medium day for Taeja today I would say, and still the title by nearly one and a half points. She will go back to the gym now and prepare for the junior international competitions to come.

The Academy’s Phoebe Jakubczyk continues to impress, and continues to bring in the results. A first year junior, fifth AA at the British, now the silver medal here today. A nice full twisting Yurchenko vault, to open, safely through bars with toe on, giant full, blind in, top out, shoot half, shoot back to high bar, and a double pike dismount. I missed her beam and floor frustratingly, it looks as though she may have had a little difficulty on beam today, but floor looks to have gone well.

Another first year junior doing well this year is Sapphire’s Hallie Copperwheat. Bronze for her today, starting on floor with a double tuck, one and a half twist to punch front to stag leap, and finishing with a double twist. Nicely performed all the way through. Straight Yurchenko today, a little closed in the hips, but clean throughout. I missed her bars, then on beam, the typical clean classy work we are used to from the Sapphire ladies, change to W jump, flick layout, back tuck, free cartwheel, side somi, and a nice double twist dismount.

AA Results

1 51.600 – Taeja James (City of Birmingham)
2 49.150 – Phoebe Jakubczyk (The Academy)
3 48.750 – Hallie Copperwheat (Sapphire)
4 48.300 – Megan Splain (Sapphire)
5 48.100 – Erika Magpantay (Marriotts)
6 47.900 – Laura Beasley (Park Wrekin)
7 47.550 – Roshelle Spencer-Smith (Heathrow)
8 47.500 – Jessica Daykin (Wiltshire)
9 47.350 – Martha Franks (Heathrow)
10 47.150 – Maya Grant (Marriotts)
11 46.750 – Jessica Castles (Pinewood)
12 46.500 – Christine Tse (Notts)
13 46.400 – Annabel Agba (Europa)
14 46.300 – Ellie Clements (The Academy)
15= 46.200 – Mia Scott (South Durham)
15= 46.200 – Danielle Tabios (Bury Spectrum)
17 46.050 – Alyieana Rahim (Sapphire)
18 45.950 – Ren Billingham (Leeds)
19 45.900 – Leigha O’Donnell (City of Manchester)
20 45.750 – Elizabeth MacFarlane (Huntingdon)
21 45.700 – Oriel Powell (City of Birmingham)
22 45.400 – Lauren Jones (Vernon Park)
23 45.100 – Synnove Macpherson (City of Manchester)
24 45.000 – Eleanor Hayward (Norfolk Academy)
25 44.600 – Alisha Evanson (Sandbach)
26 44.450 – Teri Williams (Garstang)
27 44.250 – Beth Giles (The Wire)
28 43.800 – Karis Jacomelli (Heathrow)
29 43.550 – Nemiah Munir (Sapphire)
30 43.350 – Amelia Richards (Bury Spectrum)
31 43.200 – Thalia Spence (Tameside)
32 43.150 – Tayah Askham (Dynamo)
33 42.950 – Abigaile Coffey (City of Manchester)
34 42.450 – Amy Buckle (Sandbach)
35 42.300 – Sophia Zaldua (Gymstars)
36 42.100 – Olivia Hackney (Notts)
37 42.050 – Jessica Seager (City of Newcastle)
38 41.800 – Olivia Essex (Dynamo)
39 41.150 – Rochelle Hamilton-Kendall (Exeter)
40 40.700 – Flo Evans (Exeter)
41 40.000 – Louise Akers (Diamonds)
42 39.250 – Amber Penaliggon (Berkhamsted)
43 38.000 – Isabelle Prinsep (Dynamo)
44 37.100 – Ella Beattie-Edwards (Dynamo)
45 32.150 – Eleanor Mills (Tameside)
46 27.550 – Megan Morris (Huntingdon)
47 25.000 – Emily Gibson (Europa)
48 23.100 – Elyse Hallam (Notts)
49 23.050 – Ellee Cheetham (City of Manchester)
50 11.000 – Tia Andrews (Heathrow)

Individual Apparatus Results

Vault

Taeja took the vault title, I have described her vaults above. Rochelle Spencer-Smith of Heathrow vaulted a nice full twisting Yurchenko with a small bounce, and a well stretched straight Yurchenko for silver, and I’m sad to have missed Laura Beasley’s vaults as I missed the entire first round, but she also usually vaults a full twisting Yurchenko, and a straight Yurchenko.

1 13.125 – Taeja James (City of Birmingham)
2 13.025 – Roshelle Spencer-Smith (Heathrow)
3 12.800 – Laura Beasley (Park Wrekin)
4 12.750 – Phoebe Jakubczyk (The Academy)
5 12.450 – Louise Akers (Diamonds)
6 12.300 – Beth Giles (The Wire)
7 12.225 – Olivia Essex (Dynamo)
8 12.150 – Alisha Evanson (Sandbach)
9 12.125 – Jessica Seager (City of Newcastle)
10 11.675 – Amber Penaliggon (Berkhamsted)

Bars

Taeja also topped the bars standings, with two releases and a full out dismount she will have been quite far ahead in difficulty here today. Roshelle Spencer-Smith took her second medal with joint silver here, blind in to straddled Jaeger, shoot half where she was a little short, shoot back to high bar, giant full, and a double tuck dismount. Phoebe tied for silver I have described her routine above, what really stands out about her is the attention to clean extended work throughout all of her routines, she has great lines, and as her difficulty builds, she’s is going to start bringing in some big scores.

1 12.600 – Taeja James (City of Birmingham)
2= 11.650 – Roshelle Spencer-Smith (Heathrow)
2= 11.650 – Phoebe Jakubczyk (The Academy)
4 11.550 – Hallie Copperwheat (Sapphire)
5 11.450 – Erika Magpantay (Marriotts)
6 11.350 – Laura Beasley (Park Wrekin)
7 11.150 – Jessica Castles (Pinewood)
8 11.100 – Danielle Tabios (Bury Spectrum)
9= 11.000 – Tia Andrews (Heathrow)
9= 11.000 – Ellee Cheetham (City of Manchester)

Beam

Regular readers of the blog may have noticed I particularly enthuse over gymnasts with beautifully clean work, and Heathrow’s Martha Franks would have caught my attention whether she took the title here or not. Jump to splits out, lovely little swing to handstand to stand up, then back walkover through to splits. Change leap to sissone, lovely and clean through the flick layout, back tuck, free cartwheel, then change leap to side. The only tiny adjustment came on the full spin which slightly over rotated, then flick to one and a half dismount. Beautiful work, a real routine which was very enjoyable to watch.

Hallie Copperwheat took silver with the routine I have described above, and Sapphire had another beamer on the podium, with Megain Splain taking bronze with more quality beam work. Change to W jump, flick layout, back tuck, change to side leap, back tuck, and a good double tuck dismount.

Europa’s Emily Gibson shared the bronze with a nicely performed routine. Flick to chest stand mount, a good flick flick layout series, then free cartwheel, change leap to W jump, a double spin with a small wobble, and a clean one and a half dismount.

1 12.500 – Martha Franks (Heathrow)
2 12.400 – Hallie Copperwheat (Sapphire)
3= 12.350 – Megan Splain (Sapphire)
3= 12.350 – Emily Gibson (Europa)
5 12.200 – Lauren Jones (Vernon Park)
6= 12.050 – Ellee Cheetham (City of Manchester)
6= 12.050 – Taeja James (City of Birmingham)
8 12.000 – Jessica Daykin (Wiltshire)
9 11.950 – Synnove Macpherson (City of Manchester)
10 11.850 – Eleanor Hayward (Norfolk Academy)

Floor

Taeja took floor gold with a great routine. Phoebe took the silver, and as I say unfortunately I missed this one, but she is a lovely floor worker, as we saw at the British Championships last weekend.  Pinewood’s Jessica Castles shared the silver, and I also unfortunately missed her routine as I wasn’t able to watch the first round, but very well done to her.

1 13.600 – Taeja James (City of Birmingham)
2= 12.800 – Phoebe Jakubczyk (The Academy)
2= 12.800 – Jessica Castles (Pinewood)
4= 12.700 – Erika Magpantay (Marriotts)
4= 12.700 – Ellie Clements (The Academy)
6 12.650 – Emily Gibson (Europa)
7 12.550 – Megan Splain (Sapphire)
8 12.450 – Maya Grant (Marriotts)
9 12.350 – Hallie Copperwheat (Sapphire)
10 12.200 – Martha Franks (Heathrow)

Guests

Six guests in the junior category, and although she had a mixed day here, Zoe Simmons is looking potential packed this year. Her AA total would have been enough to share the bronze, and that was with three falls today,  were she not a guest, she’d have also taken the vault and beam titles. Zoe had a fall on her Tkatchev, and her new Pak on bars, then another on her new opening tumble of two and a half twist to full twisting straight front. That is a big upgrade, and that she follows it with a double front makes it all the more impressive.

1 48.750 – Zoe Simmons (The Academy)
2 44.350 – Elisa Bronzini (Harrogate)
3 43.150 – Ellie Patrick (Dynamic)
4 42.400 – Naomi Wright (Kettering)
5 41.400 – Lucia Coggins (Largs)
6 21.700 – Megan Morrison (City of Glasgow)

Vault

1 13.350 – Zoe Simmons (The Academy)

Bars

1 10.550 – Megan Morrison (City of Glasgow)
2 10.300 – Zoe Simmons (The Academy)
3 9.300 – Elisa Bronzini (Harrogate)
4 9.050 – Lucia Coggins (Largs)
5 8.550 – Ellie Patrick (Dynamic)
6 7.900 – Naomi Wright (Kettering)

Beam

1 13.100 – Zoe Simmons (The Academy)
2 11.850 – Elisa Bronzini (Harrogate)
3= 11.150 – Ellie Patrick (Dynamic)
3= 11.150 – Megan Morrison (City of Glasgow)
5 10.250 – Naomi Wright (Kettering)
6 9.450 – Lucia Coggins (Largs)

Floor

1 11.900 – Naomi Wright (Kettering)
2 11.850 – Zoe Simmons (The Academy)
3 11.250 – Ellie Patrick (Dynamic)
4 10.900 – Lucia Coggins (Largs)
5 10.850 – Elisa Bronzini (Harrogate)

Well done to all gymnasts and coaches.