BOYS from the Dynamo School of Gymnastics are determined not to let the girls run away with all the headlines.

While the fairer sex is thriving, the boys showed they are a force to be reckoned with when they competed for places in the Southern Region team for July's National Development Plan finals in Newcastle.

The annual event at Portsmouth's Pitt Street Centre brought together the very best talent from the region, but that proved no problem for ten-year-old Jacob Bristow who comfortably won the Primary 3 competition with a score of 54.8 - a full mark clear of his nearest rival.

Nathan Kitcher will join him in the Southern Region team after scoring 48.6 in the under-11 Primary 2 section with a good all-round performance. Also in the winning mode was 12-year-old Primary 1 gymnast Craig Lovelock who easily took gold with 51.3, two marks clear of silver medal position.

Not to be outdone, under-14 competitor Nathan Jones and under-16-year-old Ben Judge both left the opposition standing to walk away with a gold apiece and join the party for Newcastle.

In the competition for the experience were teammates Sam Price and Antony Munday, who came a creditable seventh and eighth respectively but gave performances worthy of future champions.

Dynamo's director of gymnastics Debbie Hampton said: "Adam Paterson, who recently retired from competitive gymnastics, is now coaching the boys and is out to prove he can be an excellent coach. With him at the helm, Dynamo boys have a promising future."