BUCS Regionals 2010
13 February 2010
12 competitors travelled to Nottingham to try to qualify for the national championships in levels 3 and 4. There was also a level 5 competition, which for no obvious reason doesn't have a national competition. Cambridge had 4 representatives in women's level 3 and 3 in the men's competition - the most of any university represented at the competition. Club president, Brioney Gee, lead the charge, attempting to qualify for the 3rd year in a row. Suzanne Tobin had been training strongly, and was in typically high spirits, confident of qualifying after last year's disappointment. Katie Bertrand and Katharina Kohler were also hopeful of qualifying, despite the stricter qualification rules for this year's competition.
The 'three musketeers', Stephen Flexer, Alan McCreanor and Gareth Tear made up 30% of the entries in men's level 3, so with the top 20% to qualify, it was likely that at least one would make it through. In level 4, making their debut at that level, were Kate Davies, Lucy Loong and Christine Schmaus. Also bouncing in level 4, and now wearing the light blue (figuratively speaking) leotard was last year's Oxford Tramp Club president, Charlotte Houldcroft. Zanna Szlachta was Cambridge's sole representative in level 5 and, after Lucy's performance in level 5 last year, had big shoes to fill.
Even though there were less entries than last year, the standard was noticeably higher across all levels. First to compete for Cambridge were the level 3 boys. All 3 safely completed both routines, but only Stephen was able to finish in the top half. The top 2 places automatically qualified, but the organising committee decided that extra qualifiers were required to make the national final less farcical, since the other regions had even less entries. Consequently, Stephen's 5th place was sufficient for qualification. Speaking to the assembled media after the results were announced, Stephen expressed his thanks to the 5 people who had entered, but failed to turn up on the day.
All the level 3 girls bounced below their best, but still achieved notable results. Brioney recorded the third highest set routine score of the day and scored exactly the same total score as last year, but finished in 11th, compared with 8th last year. The scores were very close and a small increase in score could have resulted in a jump of several places. Suzanne finally scored the half-blue score that she has deserved, but finished annoyingly just outside the qualification places. Katie just missed out on a half-blue score, which will provide her with plenty of motivation for next year. Katharina's aim was to complete both routines, having had some trouble with the vol routine, especially, at training, and she was able to do so with comparative ease, finishing with a smile and her highest ever score at a BUCS competition.
All the level 4 girls produced their best routines of the day when the pressure was on. Some of them had a couple of small wobbles during their set routines, but every competed vol routine was the best it had ever been when it mattered most. Christine and Kate both finished in the top half, separated by 0.1 points. Lucy and Charlotte were not far behind. Charlotte substantially improved on her score from the previous year, showing the benefit of leaving the dark side.
Zanna completed the team's perfect record of 24 out of 24 routines scored out of 10 with a pair of solid routines. She finished well in the top half of level 5 with the 14th best vol routine score of the day out of 81 competitors.
Special thanks to Helen, who judged all day on panel 3 and provided all our level 3 competitors with such high scores, and to Kate Bramall, who helped on the day by coaching and encouraging our nervous bouncers.
Joel Taylor.
| Results | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Click score to see video of the routine (you'll need to allow JavaScript) | |||||
| Level | Place | Name | Set | Vol (DD) | Total |
| 3 | 5th Q | Stephen Flexer | 20.8 | 23.9 (3.5) | 44.7 |
| 3 | 7th | Gareth Tear | 20.1 | 23.5 (3.0) | 43.6 |
| 3 | 8th | Alan McCreanor | 20.0 | 23.5 (3.0) | 43.5 |
| 3 | 11th | Brioney Gee | 22.7 | 25.6 (4.7) | 48.3 |
| 3 | 14th | Suzanne Tobin | 21.5 | 25.8 (4.1) | 47.3 |
| 3 | 15th | Katie Bertrand | 22.0 | 24.6 (4.6) | 46.6 |
| 3 | 22nd | Katharina Kohler | 20.7 | 24.6 (4.0) | 45.3 |
| 4 | 30th | Christine Schmaus | 20.5 | 24.2 (2.4) | 44.7 |
| 4 | 31st | Kate Davies | 21.4 | 23.2 (3.0) | 44.6 |
| 4 | 36th | Lucy Loong | 20.9 | 23.0 (1.7) | 43.9 |
| 4 | 39th | Charlotte Houldcroft | 20.4 | 23.1 (1.7) | 43.5 |
| 5 | 35th | Zanna Szlachta | 19.0 | 22.1 (0.0) | 41.1 |
Here they are.
