The Border girls won the last three of seven sections to storm past Pentland Calisthenics College from Bacchus Marsh, who had recently wiped the floor at several Melbourne events.

Wodonga trailed by one point heading into the final revue section before receiving 85 points for their Jungle Book-inspired routine, which was the second-highest section score for the entire division.

The team consists of girls from Albury, Wodonga, Mount Beauty and Holbrook and is coached by Penny Cleary, who also runs the Kalani Calisthenic College.

Cleary said she was amazed by her team’s performance.

“We were so worried about holding on to the runner-up aggregate in the last section that we didn’t even think of winning,” Cleary said.

“We actually thought we might have missed out on a placing so when they said we had won we couldn’t believe it.

“It was certainly a very unexpected result, but a wonderful result, especially coming home as strongly as they did.”

Cleary said team spirit was the key to her team’s success.

“They’re a little team of battlers.

“They haven’t got a leader out the front, they just all worked really hard together on the day and in the lead-up.

“A lot of the other Melbourne teams compete six or seven times year, but we can only get to the state titles and South Street.

“I think the reason they did so well in the last section was because they just enjoyed it.

“They were really tired, you could see that, but they really enjoy the Jungle Book piece and that enthusiasm helped them get through.

“We’re all extremely proud of our girls ... the best thing about it all has been watching them grow, they really have grown together.”

The academy will hold it annual concert at the Albury Commercial Club on Sunday, November 8 at 4pm.