Capital gymnasts surprised by success at championships

Medals were the last thing Wellington gymnasts expected to win at the New Zealand secondary schools championships in Auckland last week.

"We did a lot better than we expected," coach Amy Robson said. "They all competed a lot better than I had seen them before, so that was fantastic to watch."

Spearheading the Wellington team was Tom Green, from Wellington College.

Green won the B grade trampoline competition and then finished second in the C grade artistic competition, missing the gold medal by 0.100 of a mark.

Although they finished out of the medals, Henare Davidson (Wellington High), Ethan James and George McLean (Scots College) and Jonathan Gray and Wei Jun Lee (Wellington College) did well in the C grade artistic competition.

Davidson finished fourth, James sixth, McLean and Gray eighth equal and Lee 13th.

The performance of the Wellington College trio of Green, Gray and Lee saw them win the boys' C grade teams event.

Gray and Davidson also competed in the B grade trampoline competition and finished seventh and 10th respectively.

Lee's performance was especially impressive as he had suffered an injury during his warm-up but still competed.

In the girls' competition, Kate Eyre, Lisa Marsden and Emily Hooper (Wellington Girls') and Megan Jeram (Wellington East Girls') all finished in the top 20 of their competitions.

Several Wellington competitors are already thinking about next year's competition.

"They saw some amazing stuff and are already keen to get involved in different aspects of it next year," Robson said.

- © Fairfax NZ News