Westlake Girls Rhythmic Gymnast, Mary Markova’s name has been engraved on the 2021 New Zealand Rhythmic Gymnastics Trophy after becoming the Junior International Champion after two gruelling days of competition at the National Championship at Trust Arena in Auckland. The Year 9 student also won 3 medals in the apparatus finals Day 3 of competition. With only the top 8 competitors in each apparatus permitted to compete, Mary continued her fine form to win gold in the ball, silver for the clubs and silver for the ribbon too.
The Group event, much like Synchronised Swimming, has 5 athletes competing in the routine and Mary’s group won gold and the overall title to become the 2021 New Zealand Champions. Mary has a strong history of success at the National Championships after winning gold at Level 4 in 2017, gold at Level 5 in 2018 and silver at Level 6 in 2019.
Other Westlake Girls students to compete at the National Championships included rhythmic gymnasts Layla Waggie who won bronze in senior club, Shalinee Bajwa who placed 4th overall in Level 4 and 2nd in ball, Holly Wright came 7th overall in Level 8 and Nadia Franklin who placed 14th overall in Level 7. The 2021 NZ Champs featured 5 gymnastics events and hosted 900 competitors this year.
