There was a medal haul for the Manx at the British University and College Sport Championships (BUCS) in Aldershot recently.

Local gymnasts Nicole Burns, Isabel Hester and Lauren Kerruish brought home the honours in the women’s artistic gymnastics competition at the event in Hampshire.

There was double gold success for Nicole who collected the all-around individual title for the second year running as well as team gold for Leeds Beckett University Gymnastics Club.

In a tough competition where she was chased every step of the way by fellow Commonwealth Games gymnast Natasha Raymund Jayadev, both women had claimed two apparatus titles each after four rotations.

However, Nicole’s overall performance - which saw her finish first on floor and beam and second on vault and bars - was enough to take the overall all-around title ahead of Jayadev. Nicole can now add this win to an increasing list of impressive results this season.

Making their debuts at this competition, both Lauren and Isabel led the Loughborough University team to a silver medal position, with the latter finishing a notable fifth overall and narrowly missing out on a beam medal by 0.1 mark.

In 12th place, Lauren produced a stunning floor routine and also broke into the top-10 rankings on beam.

While they were competing in their university colours for this competition, the home club for all three gymnasts is Manx Gymnastics Centre of Excellence.

Nicole would like to thank Isle of Man Sport Aid and her sponsor NK Construction for its ongoing support.

angela roberts