HIGH-FLYING gymnasts with Acrobay made it six of the best recently as they retained the team trophy at the recent Acrobatic NDP Scottish Championships and Team Competition.

The annual event took place at the Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility over the weekend of March 11-12 and saw the Rosyth-based club bring home an impressive haul of medals and titles, as well as claiming the team trophy for an outstanding sixth successive year.

Gymnasts from across Scotland compete at the championships, where partnerships finishing in gold medal positions and other podium places qualify to represent Scotland later in the year, either at the 2017 British Championships in Stoke or at the Acrobatic Inter-Regional Competition in Southampton.

The NDP Team Competition, which saw the weekend’s top scores added towards a final total to decide 2017’s top Scottish teams, ran alongside and all of Acrobay’s talented young partnerships gave it their best with accomplished routines.

That resulted in a huge medal haul, with gold going to Ffion Smith & Ailish McNicoll (Grade 1 Women’s Pairs); Dylan Morrison & Zoe Gracie (Grade 1 Mixed Pairs); Kyran Thompson & Ryan McLaughlin (Grade 1 Men’s Pairs); Sean Habrovitsky & Casey Cameron (Grade 2 Mixed Pairs); Emma Gillies, Clara Davidson & Sophie Humphries (Grade 2 Women’s Groups); Kirsty Cochrane & Hannah Johnston (Grade 3 Women’s Pairs) and Eve Gillies & Kayla Ballantyne (Grade 4 Women’s Pairs).

Silver medals were presented to Catherine Hillis & Emma Nelson (Grade 2 Women’s Pairs); Nicole Paltiel, Annaleece Simrick & Melissa Parris (Grade 3 Women’s Groups); Eve Ormiston & Eilidh Park (Grade 4 Women’s Pairs); Abby Paveling, Abby Martindale & Ruth Carson (Grade 4 Women’s Groups) and Mica Fraser & Jasmine Parris (Grade 5 Women’s Pairs), while there were bronze medals for Emma Tait & Ruby Cunningham (Grade 1 Women’s Pairs); Caitlin Richardson & Chloe Chadha (Grade 3 Women’s Pairs); Olivia Keir, Erin Bailey & Caitlin Mitchell (Grade 4 Women’s Groups) and Emma Hunking, Rosie Jasper & Ava-Violet Daglish (Grade 5 Women’s Groups).

Other Acrobay gymnasts who competed with beautiful routines were Erin Hicks & Lucy Winch and Isla McIntosh & Poppy Pain (Grade 2 Women’s Pairs); Iona Begg, Emily Healy & Clara Joyce (Grade 2 Women’s Groups); Mia Logan, Aimee Arnott & Poppy Pain (Grade 3 Women’s Groups); Jaymi Neilson & Grace Crawford (Grade 4 Women’s Pairs); Claire Kinnes, Zara Rowe & Katie Hendry (Grade 4 Women’s Groups) and Orla O’Neill, Amy Byrne & Isla Gould (Grade 5 Women’s Groups).

Thrilled head coach Suzanne Fraser said: “All of our gymnasts were fantastic this weekend; it’s great to see so many Scottish champions in our club. I’m so proud that Acrobay have managed to retain the NDP title for the sixth year running; it was an amazing team effort from everyone.

“The competition this year was particularly tough and well-fought, with just one mark between the top three teams.

“All the gymnasts from all the competing clubs were a credit to their coaches and clubs; it’s great to see such a strong presence in the Scottish acrobatic community.”

Acrobay’s Senior FIG Group also competed at the event, enjoying success in the FIG Scottish tournament section of the competition. Strong performances ensured podium positions for every partnership, with gold medals for Katie Halliwell, Deanna Canny-Armitt & Melissa Dewar (age 11-16 Women’s Groups); Kirsty Norman, Catriona Mitchell & Ailidh Forbes (Age 12-18 Women’s Groups); Taylor Wilson & Amy Middleton (age 12-18 Women’s Pairs); and Erin Henderson, Sacha Muir & Chloe Rowlands (Age 13-19 Women’s Groups). There was also a bronze for Rebecca Stewart, Ellie Horstmann & Scarlett Haldane (11-16 Women’s Groups).

Acrobay’s success came during the third major competition in as many weeks for the hard-working group, having competed south of the border and in Portugal in successive weeks.

On February 25-26, they were in action at the Acrobatic British Tournament in Stoke, joining more than 200 of Britain’s best gymnasts from 24 clubs from across the UK.

Once again, the team proved their worth as they all gave beautiful performances, with four partnerships – Taylor & Amy, Catriona, Kirsty & Ailidh and Sacha, Erin & Chloe – making the finals and adding to the club’s medal tally, earning one silver and two bronze medals respectively.

The team then departed for Portugal to compete in the 2017 Maia International Acro Cup on March 2-5, where they competed against world-class gymnasts from 23 different countries spanning five continents.

All the partnerships did incredibly well in the face of some formidable competition – the 12-18 and 13-19 partnerships making it through to the finals – and proved that Acrobay gymnasts have earned their right to stand shoulder to shoulder with some of the world’s best acrobatic gymnasts.