CYC Junior Invitational 2026: Level 7 Belongs to the Host Club and Chamford

I wrote about CYC Gymsports itself a couple of days ago, including a first impression of its Braeside facility from a parent's seat. This one's about what actually happened on the competition floor at its 2026 Junior Invitational, run on Saturday 29 August across Levels 3 through 7. Levels 3 and 4 were team-only. Levels 5 through 7 added individual all-around events on top. Let's go level by level.

LEVEL 3: MELBOURNE ACROBATIC TOPS TWO FIELDS AS CYC'S SQUADS SPLIT BY 0.05

Melbourne Acrobatic Gymnastics Academy won Level 3 Division 1's seven-team field on 109.8, ahead of Pulse Gymnastics (108.95) and the host club's own Green squad, third on 107.65. CYC's Blue squad was fourth right behind them on 107.6, just 0.05 back, the tightest gap on the entire scoreboard at this level.

Level 3 Division 2 ran across two sessions. Niddrie's White squad won the first on 105.4 from Pulse's Teal squad (104.025) and Chamford (103.875); Niddrie fielded three more squads further down that field. Diamond Gymnastics Club won the second on 108.525 from Melbourne Acrobatic's own second squad (108.025).

Level 3 Division 3 went back to Melbourne Acrobatic on 102.875, ahead of Leongatha's Yellow squad (100.55) and Bentleigh McKinnon's Navy squad (100.2). MYC Gymnastics fielded two squads in this division, finishing 4th and 5th overall (98.15 and 97.85), but its Navy squad actually posted the best vault score of the entire nine-team field, 26.8, and its Gold squad backed that up with the division's third-best score on bars.

LEVEL 4: MELBOURNE ACROBATIC TOPS A TIGHT DIVISION 1 AS NIDDRIE, CYC AND CHAMFORD ARE SEPARATED BY 0.15

Level 4 Division 1's ten-team field was tight from top to bottom. Melbourne Acrobatic's Pink squad won on 111.625, though it came together after a scare: the elder of the Ignjic sisters broke her arm training on bars at home last week, and Kong moved over from the Orange squad to fill the gap left by one of Pink's top scorers. Melbourne Acrobatic's Orange squad, competing in Division 1 for the first time after a recent promotion, may have felt Kong's absence, and possibly the extra pressure of the higher division, on the way to an 8th-place finish on 107.525. That's likely just a temporary setback, Orange has historically scored well clear of that mark, and I'd expect them back on form by Regionals. Niddrie's Aqua squad was 2nd on 110.25, and CYC's Green squad 3rd on 110.2, just 0.05 behind Niddrie and 0.1 ahead of Chamford's Navy squad in 4th. CYC's Blue squad finished 6th on 108.225.

Level 4 Division 2 also ran across two sessions. Leongatha Gymnastic Club won the first on 106.925 from Niddrie's Navy squad (106.35) and Chamford's Navy squad (106.025). Diamond won the second on 107.25, with the host club's own combined squad 2nd right behind on 107.075, just 0.175 back.

Bentleigh McKinnon won Level 4 Division 3 on 104.65, with Wyndham City's Yellow squad 2nd (104.35), East Gippsland Gym Club 3rd (104.025) and Wyndham City's Black squad 4th (103.675) close behind, the top four separated by just 0.975. All four also cleared a promotion cutoff along the way, more on that below in Promotion Watch. MYC's White squad finished 5th on 102.825, but won the division's vault rotation outright on 26.9.

LEVEL 5: CYC SWEEPS THIRD TO FIFTH IN THE UNDER FIELD, A 0.025 MARGIN DECIDES FOURTH IN DIVISION 2

Level 5 Division 1's individual field ran across three sessions, an "Under" bracket plus two Open sessions. In the Under bracket, Chamford's Ariana Katsis won on 36.55, just ahead of Melbourne Acrobatic's Meghan Korla (36.425), and CYC swept third through fifth: Sienna Quinn (36.1), Mija Mocevic (35.7) and Lois Lee (35.45), five CYC gymnasts in total in an eleven-athlete field. Niddrie's Elena Sebastian won the first Open session on 36.8, and Melbourne Acrobatic's Luckshetha Mauran won the second Open session on 37.0, the highest individual score at this level all day. Melbourne Acrobatic's team won the division on 111.1, ahead of Niddrie's Navy squad (108.85) and Chamford's Teal squad (108.05).

Level 5 Division 2 also ran across two sessions. In the first, Diamond's Sophie Barnes won on 36.325 and Niddrie's Mathilde Kitsios was 2nd on 36.016, both clearing the division's 36.0 promotion cutoff. Behind them, Melbourne Acrobatic's Talyssa Nguyen took bronze on 35.55, edging out a tie for fourth between Pulse's Hailey Isabella Singh and Diamond's Evie van Pampus, both on 35.525, by just 0.025, one of the tightest podium misses of the day. Although not making the podium herself, Knox's Kayla Marchant scored higher on floor at CYC (7.8) than she did at the Judge's Invitational (7.633) two weeks earlier, good signs of an upward trend there. In the second session, Pulse's Adrielle Cardenas won on 36.441, also clearing the cutoff, with Pulse's Isla Hare and Niddrie's Ellegra Witt tying for 2nd on 36.025 and clearing it too. CYC's Layla Payne was 4th in that session on 35.558. Niddrie's White squad won the team event on 108.157, just ahead of Diamond (107.675), Melbourne Acrobatic (107.241) and Pulse's White squad (107.174); the host club's own squad was 5th on 106.358.

Level 5 Division 3 ran across two sessions and belonged to East Gippsland. In the first, Annie Rickhuss won on 35.0, clearing the division's 34.0 cutoff, ahead of Pulse's Ellie Weng (34.55, also clearing it). In the second, East Gippsland's Mischa Waddell won on 35.075, with Leongatha's Annabelle Walkley (34.675) and East Gippsland's own Priya Waddell (34.5) both clearing it as well. Right behind them in 4th, Melbourne Acrobatic's Skylah Jones cleared the cutoff too on 34.175, her fourth start of the season at this level and the first time she's gotten there: 33.0, 33.175, 33.9 and now 34.175, closing the gap every time out before finally getting over the line. East Gippsland's own squad then backed all three of those individual clearances up with the team title, 105.5, ahead of Pulse (101.775) and Melbourne Acrobatic's Orange squad (101.7); MYC's own team finished 7th on 94.45.

LEVEL 6: NIDDRIE GOES 1-2 IN DIVISION 1, CYC'S SANTOS MISSES BRONZE BY 0.075

Level 6 Division 1 went 1-2 to Niddrie's Natasha Knuvers (37.0) and Sasindee Sunnadeniya (36.925), with Eastern Gymnastics Club's Ailie Zeng taking bronze on 36.7. CYC's Eliza Santos finished 4th on 36.625, just 0.075 short of that bronze medal, with clubmate Jasmine Leau 5th on 36.4; CYC placed four gymnasts in the top nine of a twelve-athlete field without a podium finish among them. Niddrie's team backed up the individual results with the team title, 110.45, with CYC's own squad 2nd on 109.95, just 0.5 behind.

Level 6 Division 2 went to Diamond's Lena Schreiber on 35.725, though that score fell short of the division's 36.0 promotion cutoff. CYC's Helen Huynh was 2nd on 35.325, Eastern's Katherine Huang 3rd on 34.875, and CYC's Zoe Osadnik 5th on 34.675. Chamford won the team event on 104.225, just ahead of Niddrie's Aqua squad (103.35) and CYC's own squad in 3rd, only 0.05 further back on 103.3.

Level 6 Division 3 was the smallest field of the day (not counting Level 7's Under bracket), twelve gymnasts and a single team. Eastern's Hannah Wai won on 33.275, edging out clubmate Ellie Lee by just 0.025, one of the tightest 1st-2nd margins of the whole competition. Eastern's squad was the division's only team, scoring 99.45.

LEVEL 7: KATRICH AND CYC'S GREEN SQUAD RUN AWAY WITH DIVISION 2 ON HOME TURF

Level 7 Division 1 belonged to Chamford. Its own Cora Turski tied for the Under bracket's top spot on 47.35 with Melbourne Acrobatic's Indigo Gration, going 1st on bars and beam along the way. In the Open field, Chamford's Mia Bell finished 2nd overall on 46.2, winning beam outright and taking silver on floor, and clubmate Layla Fairweather was 4th on 45.4 after winning the vault rotation. Melbourne City's Lara Thompson topped the Open field itself on 46.45, with CYC's own Arya Izmaylova 5th on 45.05. Chamford's team then completed the sweep, winning on 138.95 ahead of Melbourne Acrobatic's Orange squad (137.6) and Melbourne City (136.65). After the presentations, the club's gymnasts got their grip bags signed by Commonwealth gold medallist and Olympian Kate McDonald, herself a CYC athlete.

Level 7 Division 2 was the host club's best result of the day. CYC's Anastacia Katrich won the first session on 45.5, comfortably her best all-around score in our database and 2.85 points clear of Knox's Elizabeth Chew in 2nd (42.65); CYC's own Piper McClatchie (42.2) and Isla MacKenzie (42.05) took 3rd and 4th, three of the top four for the home club. CYC's Green squad backed that up with the team title, 130.65 to MYC's Navy squad in 2nd on 121.0. MYC's own Sienna Walker finished 9th individually but took bronze on both beam and floor, and clubmate Brylee Whitten, 13th overall, took 4th on vault.

The other two sessions ran as a separate, larger Level 7 Division 2 field. Niddrie's Isobelle Abate won the first on 46.2, a big bounce back from a rough 31.35 at the Eclipse Invitational the week before. Clubmate Sienna Seyis was 2nd on 44.7 and Melbourne City's Abigail Unsworth 3rd on 44.35; all three cleared a promotion cutoff along the way, more on that below in Promotion Watch. The second of these two sessions went to Niddrie's Ciara Garro on 43.8, just short of the cutoff, with Diamond's Ruby Tossavainen 2nd (43.2) and Niddrie's own Charlotte Uberti 3rd (43.1). Diamond's team won that combined field on 131.65 ahead of Pulse (130.2) and Melbourne City (128.0).

PROMOTION WATCH

With Regionals only a week away, it's not certain any promotion from here will actually carry over. As far as I'm aware, there's some leeway, around two weeks, for a clearance that lands close to another event, so a gymnast or team might still be allowed to compete at Regionals in their current division. Since Regionals is what qualifies you for States, whatever division they're in there is the one they'd be locked into for States. So take these clearances with a grain of salt. Or chalk? Twenty-one scores cleared a cutoff at the CYC Junior Invitational regardless, spread across Levels 4 to 7.

Level 4 Division 3's team field saw four squads clear the 103.5 cutoff together: Bentleigh McKinnon, both of Wyndham City's squads, and East Gippsland. Bentleigh McKinnon and East Gippsland's squads were first-time clearances this season. Wyndham City's Yellow squad also cleared it for the first time, but the club's Black squad had already cleared it once before, at the Niddrie Invitational 3-4 back on 11 July (104.05), making this a possible second clearance of the season, assuming of course it fielded the same lineup for both events. In between, the results sheet for the Jets July Invitational lists that squad as "Wyndham + MYC Mixed team black", combining just Wyndham City and MYC, a reminder of why we hedge team clearances this way, we can't confirm the same lineup was fielded every time.

Level 5 Division 2 produced five clearances, all first-time this season and four of them within 0.325 of each other: Diamond's Sophie Barnes (36.325), Pulse's Adrielle Cardenas (36.441), Niddrie's Mathilde Kitsios (36.016), and the tied pair of Pulse's Isla Hare and Niddrie's Ellegra Witt (both 36.025). Level 5 Division 3 added six more, also all first clearances, led by East Gippsland's trio of Annie Rickhuss, Mischa Waddell and Priya Waddell, plus Pulse's Ellie Weng, Leongatha's Annabelle Walkley, and MYC's Skylah Jones, whose 34.175 came after three progressively closer misses earlier in the season.

Level 7 Division 2 carried the most individual clearances, six in total, three of them second clearances this season. Niddrie's Isobelle Abate and Melbourne Acrobatic's Matayha Nwesser both backed up an earlier-season clearance with another one here, comfortably spaced out from their first. Pulse's Frankie Dove is the closer case: she cleared the cutoff at the Eclipse Invitational on August 22nd (44.4) and again here just seven days later (44.0, right on the cutoff), close enough together that the leeway mentioned above may well apply to her too. CYC's Anastacia Katrich, Niddrie's Sienna Seyis and Melbourne City's Abigail Unsworth rounded out the group with first-time clearances of their own.

That wraps up the CYC Junior Invitational. Full results from every session are up on the results page. Wow, can you believe Regionals is only a week away? This season has flown by. Keep an eye out for my numbers-based predictions on who we might see at States, if Regionals results follow the data. If you spot any discrepancies or incorrect name spellings along the way, let us know and we'll get them sorted.