Sixty-two athletes and their coaches from the Okanagan Gymnastics Centre travelled to Richmond earlier this month to compete in the Best Of the West Gymnastics Fest.
The biggest gymnastics event in the country with 1,800 athletes competing, the event featured the Delta Invitational, the Western Canadian Championships and BC Gymnastrada.
• Western Canadian Championships:
Coach Jon Mason was named Team B.C. coach after three male athletes qualified for the provincial team— Shane Hiscock Level 5, Brady Clegg and Lucas Fabian Level 4.
The level 5 team won gold, while the level 4 team finished second.
Hiscock was fifth overall, winning silver medals for floor exercise and parallel bars and bronze on the horizontal bar.
Clegg finished second overall in the Level 4 category, with a silver on pommel horse and a bronze medal on the horizontal bar.
Fabian was 14th overall, earning two bronze medals on the parallel bars and vault.
Jenna Mick and Vanessa Bulcok, coached by Jesse Jakins and Heather Ivanitz, qualified to Team B.C. in the women’s JO 9 category.
This JO 9 team won the gold medal for the team competition.
Mick finished the first day of competition in first place on the balance beam and third place on vault, qualifying her to event finals in those events, where she finished fourth in both.
• Delta Invitational—Women’s Artistic Gymnastics
In the girls JO 2 category, seven young ladies competed for the very first time. Finishing with silver overall were Rae Roworth, Ava Roth and Paige Trottier. Finishing with a bronze overall were Makena Ivanitz, Taylor Campbell, Kaydin Weiler and Rylea Regier.
Olive Fenske finished first overall in the JO 3 child category, winning gold on vault, uneven bars and floor exercise.
Junelle Sabang earned a silver on the uneven bars, while Izabelle Coetzee won silver on the balance beam.
In the JO 3 junior category, Haylee Van Steinburg finished second overall, winning the balance beam and finishing third on the floor. Eva Solano won a silver medal on the floor.
In JO 4, Piper Campo won a silver medal on the vault.
Natalia Simeuonvic was first overall in the JO 5 category after winning the vault and uneven bars. Miah Denis was third overall, winning gold on floor, silver on beam and bronze on the uneven bars.
Thea Elma finished with a silver on the balance beam.
Hayley Zandee, in the JO 6 category, earned a silver medal for the floor exercise.
In the JO 7 junior category, Mackenzie Carroll won the all-around after winning the bars, finishing second on beam and third on floor.
Kenedi Woodcox was third overall with a silver on the floor and bronze medals on vault and uneven bars. Kayleigh Nicolson won the floor exercise and a bronze on the balance beam.
In JO 7 senior, Emily MacKay took the top spot overall after winning the vault and uneven bars. She also won silver on the floor exercise. MacKay earned the highest score of any OGC athlete with a 9.825 on vault.
Danica Graves won two bronze medals on the vault and balance beam.
Grace Driver won a silver medal on the uneven bars in JO 8.
In the JO 9 competition, Lucia Jakab won bronze on vault, bars and all-around.
In men’s artistic gymnastics, boys Level 1 competition, Tristian Edwards, Elliot Bone and Artiom Potapciuc won the overall gold.
Brent Rambold competed in the Level 2 category winning the parallel bars and horizontal bar.
In Level 3, Willis Plant finished second overall, winning the rings and parallel bars. He also won silver on the floor and a bronze on the horizontal bar.
In the Level 4 competition, Oliver Eisele finished first overall, winning the floor, rings, vault and parallel bars.
