BERMUDA'S gymnasts scooped a sackful of medals at the weekend in their first appearance at the The Crown of the Carolinas meet.

Up against more than 600 competitors from 29 US east coast teams, Bermuda's squad of 12 shone at the Winthrop University in Rock Hill.

In the youngest age group at the silver level, seven-year-old Zekiah Lewis from West Pembroke, placed first on vault, bars, floor and in the all-around. Fellow school mate, 10-year-old Sydney Mason, placed third on beam and first on vault, bars, and in the all-around.

Clara James from the BHS in the nine-year-old category, placed third on floor, second on vault and bars, and first on beam and in the all around.

Corey Ford, 11 from Warwick Academy, completed one level higher in the gold division, placing placed third on vault, second on floor and first on bars, beam and in the all-around.

Veteran gymnast Morgan Beckles, 13, BHS, fresh from a personal coaching from Olympic training legend Bela Karolyi, placed fourth on vault and bars at level 9. One level below at level 8, Rosie Finnigan, Morgan Cleave, and Tabytha Hofheins ¿ who also trained with Karolyi ¿ pulled together for a fourth place team banner. Individually 12-year-old Finnigan, BHS, placed third on vault, 11-year-old Cleave, BHS, placed fifth on floor, and 11-year-old Hofheins, Warwick Academy, grabbed the silver medal on beam and gold for her dynamic floor routine.

In the Gold level nine-year-old Danielle Wall, BHS, debuted her back handspring on the beam guiding her to a sixth place finish on the four-inch wide, four-foot high challenging event. She also placed fourth on bars.

The strongest team Bermuda brought had six members and competed in the silver level and placed second against five other teams.

Helping out the teammates Lewis, James and Mason were Zantae Dill, 10, Saltus, who took third on bars; Samantha Soares, nine, from Warwick Academy, who took gold on bars and floor, and third on vault and in the all-around; and Amy Outerbridge, nine, from Warwick Academy, who tied with Soares on vault for third and also grabbed bronze on the beam.

Coaches Michelle Strenk and Tina Williams were impressed with the girls' performances.

Strenk said: "The timing of this meet was exactly what we were looking for to keep the athletes motivated and working hard.

"Usually at this time of year there are no competitions at these levels and the girls have too long of a break between competitive events.

"This meet helped to push the girls to add new and difficult skills to their routines. We will continue with this momentum in preparation for our two competitions in February.

"The junior girls will travel to Raleigh, NC to continue our winning streak while the senior girls will compete at the largest gym meet in the world hosted in Chicago, Illinois."