THIRTEEN gymnasts from Dorchester YMCA put on superb displays at the Dorset Boys’ Floor and Vault Championships.

The young gymnasts travelled to Port Regis School, Shaftesbury to take part in a competition that marked county town debuts for Flynn Scott-Riley, Oliver Taylor, James Pullin, Nathan McNab and Jed Marsh.

Also representing the YMCA were Cameron Rawcliffe, Zak Trevett, William Crankshaw, Jonathan Hoare, Joe Tilsed, Daniel Davies, Oakley Parker and Darwin Culley.

With the younger competitors starting on the floor all eyes were on the new boys. Each YMCA member performed extremely well on the floor but Rawcliffe, Taylor and Marsh proved to be the pick of the boys with Rawcliffe scoring the fourth highest in his group while Marsh and Taylor came first and second in their respective groups.

Senior boys’ coach Karen Tilsed said: “Some of these boys haven’t done competitions before and they performed really well. They all remembered their routines and handled the pressure of being the first gymnasts on very well.”

While the younger members of the YMCA team were competing on floor the older contingent were competing on the vault.

First up was Crankshaw who performed a handstand flat back vault. Hoare, Joe Tilsed, Davies, Parker and Culley all performed a handspring vault on the table.

Things were close between Hoare and Davies, the latter beating the former by just 0.2 with Joe Tilsed not far behind.

The boys then swapped apparatus, with the younger members of the YMCA squad doing a handstand flat back vault, except Marsh who went over the table for the first time.

This did not seem to matter though, as he again had the highest score for his group. Rawcliffe again had the fourth highest score while Trevett and Scott-Riley were only 0.2 behind. On the floor the senior boys did not disappoint, putting in some polished displays, resulting in some close scores.

This time it was Joe Tilsed who triumphed, beating Hoare and Davies into second and third.

Things were also tight between Parker and Culley with the latter prevailing by a mere 0.03.

Taylor was the first of the Dorchester YMCA representatives to take to the podium, finishing with an overall bronze, while Marsh followed with a gold medal in his group.

Crankshaw went home with an overall silver, as did Parker who was pipped to gold by Culley.

Elsewhere, in a closely contested group, Hoare claimed gold with team-mates Davies and Joe Tilsed winning silver and bronze respectively in a county town one-two-three.

Karen Tilsed added: “This has been a good day for the boys and they can now look forward to a nice new gym, with sprung floor and vaulting table when they come back.

“We must also thank Amie Rodway and Liam Gallagher, two of our young coaches who came along and judged. Judging is not the most enjoyable of jobs at the best of time but they both did extremely well and Sam Welch and I are very grateful.”

Dorchester YMCA run gymnastics classes for both men and women of all ages and abilities.

For more information on the various services the club provides visit dorchester-ymca.co.uk or contact 266467.