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1999 Women's National Clubs
 | Springers Leisure Centre, Keysborough |
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Held on a rainy, cold winter's night, the 1999 Women's National Clubs Competition showcased the cream of Australia's junior elite gymnasts.
Unfortunately, I was only able to attend the second half of the Elite division on the Friday night, but from what I saw, it was a good indication of how these gymnasts had
progressed since the National Championships in March. Right: Stephanie LoPiccolo, Natalie Sorenson and Meagan Quinn from the VIG, hold the championship trophy. |  |
 | The overall champion club was originally announced as the Victorian Institute of Gymnastics, boasting such names as Meagan Quinn, Katia Lachina and Stephanie LoPiccolo (who recently made the switch from MLC). The depth of this program easily handed them the champion's trophy. In second place was MLC, again from Victoria, led by Stephanie Moorehouse, the 1999 Junior National Champion. |
| In third came The Gym School, from the AIS, led by Valentina Barabach. However during the Level 9 and 10 session on the Sunday night the scores were amended to make joint champions Cheltenham Youth Club and MLC. Above: AIS gymnasts Jessica Devita, Valentina Barabach, Nicole Alexander, Allison Johnston and Kayla Jordan. In the International Division, Jessica Zarnay led the way, taking 1st AA. Zarnay also won UB with 9.037. Kylie Tanner from the QHPC came second AA and Kayla Jordan from AIS, third. Jessica White from the VIG placed 5th after a few stumbles, including a fall on her acro series and a major break on beam, her last apparatus. Right: Jessica White and Jessica Zarnay from the VIS |  |
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In the National Division, Stephanie Moorehouse from MLC ( pictured left, with her swag of medals) won the AA over Katia Lachina (VIG) 2nd, Stephanie LoPiccolo (VIG) 3rd and Andrea Hah (VIG) 4th. Although there were a lot of stumbles and mistakes, the quantity of gymnasts and quality of their work was quite high. There were quite a few double layouts off UB (Kylie Tanner, Nicole Alexander and Kayla Jordan). The AIS girls showed variety in their UB work, moving away from the traditional releases: Allison Johnston dared a Comaneci (fall) and Alexander a Markelov (awkward recatch). National gymnast from the VIG, Natalie Sorenson had a very "Trudy McIntosh-like" floor, with powerful tumbling (double pike, double tuck) and eerily similar dance moves.
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| It was also nice to have an international presence at the championships, with the New Zealand national elite team (pictured right, after the competition) competing, and collecting several apparatus medals. |  |
