On Sunday, May 9, five of Cloud Nine's Grade B trampolinists travelled to Gillingham for the BTF competition.

For two of them, Zoe Wilson and Hannah Davies it was their first B grade competition, having recently been promoted from the C Grade circuit.

The others had competed at this level before but this time round the competition was particularly strong with 80 entrants in the Under 18's and 50 in the under 13's.

The day started at 9am with the set round and it was clear straight away that the Under 18 team were on a roll.

After the set Joanna Woodger was in first place and Suzanne Perkins in fifth. Zoe Wilson was lying some way behind but was doing well for her first attempt at this level.

The voluntary round was to see the lead change as Suzanne stormed up into third place while Jo dropped back to fourth.

Zoe, not making the final, finished here in the middle of the field which was a solid achievement. Suzanne and Joanna now had to compete a further voluntary in the final.

Because of the numbers the final did not take place until late afternoon but both kept their concentration to finish in equal second place - an excellent recovery by Jo and a reward for consistency for Suzanne.

This result also means that Joanna now joins Suzanne at the National B finals at Bath in November.

In the meantime, the Under 13 pair were not disgracing themselves either. Kerry Elsdon, had not only just stepped up an age group but was recovering from a foot injury and could not quite keep up with Hannah Davies.

Hannah, who has only been trampolining for a year now, was competing in her first B grade and not only finished in equal 14th place but also qualified for the national B Finals in November.

Kerry was just behind in 16th place but just missed out on a qualifying score.

Afterwards one of the Cloud Nine coaches, Caroline Arno, said: "I was so pleased with the girls. They all worked hard for their achievements and supported each other throughout a long tiring day.

I'm sure they will all go much further - in the meantime with our growing presence at Grade A and Grade B events there is no doubt on the trampoline circuit that Brentwood is on the map."

Cloud Nine train at Courage Hall, Brentwood four nights a week. There are places available for the youth (over 13) and adult (over 16) sessions at 7:30 and 8:45 on Tuesday evenings for anybody who would like to try the sport.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.