WAIS Girls in Full Swing in the USA

WAIS Gymnasts Dasha Joura, Lauren Mitchell and Emily Little all competed at the Pacific Rim Championships in the USA over the weekend, in the lead up to May’s Olympic Trial.

Joura earned herself a bronze medal in the all-around classification and appeared in three apparatus finals. These included silver in the floor routine and fifth placing in the beam and uneven bars.

Due to an injury sustained recently Joura didn’t attempt her double twist on the vault, meaning her score read up to one full point lower than usual, meaning her high score and subsequent placing is even more impressive.

WAIS Gymnastics Program Consultant Liz Chetkovich was encouraged by Joura’s form.

“She did an excellent job in hitting all her routines both in the Team and All Around competition and then again in her three apparatus finals. It is a good position for her to be in, eight weeks prior to thefirst Olympic Trial,” Chetkovich said.

Lauren Mitchell finished fourth in the uneven bars, but was under her best in some of her routines. She managed to score highly on the beam despite a fall, which is encouraging.

“Mitchell will learn from her mistakes and work on correcting the problem areas before trials, but her results were promising in its own way,” Chetkovich said.

Emily Little competed in her first ever International competition and did so without any major errors. She handled her first international tour extremely well, and will return home to work on her difficulty levels.

Tain Molendijk did not compete due to an ankle injury she sustained in training while over in the USA. The experience gained on tour is expected to hold her in good stead in the future.

The first Olympic Trial takes place from 21-25 May.