Nanaimo athletes are achieving great heights in trampoline gymnastics.
Nanaimo Gymnastics School competitors have medalled at provincial, Western Canadian and world qualifiers this spring and some are now setting their sights on national championships.
Kayla Howell, Cassidy Bodnar and Blake Mould are headed to Canadian championships this month and Owen Harbo is a Western Canadian champion.
Howell is Nanaimo’s first-ever all-around provincial gold medallist in trampoline and tumbling gymnastics, as she won gold in tumbling and medalled on the trampoline and double-mini at the B.C. championships May 31-June 2 in Port Moody.
Bodnar won gold in trampoline and synchro trampoline, teaming with Sierra Schuler, and is the first girl from Nanaimo Gymnastics School to reach Level 6 and have a chance to try for worlds in trampoline.
Mould, as far as the club knows, is the first Nanaimo gymnast to make a senior national team.
“I think some have a chance for sure to potentially medal at national championships this year,” said Megan Conway, Nanaimo Gymnastics School coach. “Cassidy and Blake and Kayla have all moved up levels, though, so we’ll see how that goes.”
Nanaimo athletes are achieving great heights in trampoline gymnastics… https://t.co/7BZSTVBkbM #Nanaimo #trampoline pic.twitter.com/94pk6uylZ3
— Greg Sakaki (@BulletinSports) July 3, 2019
Mould, Bodnar, Howell and Schuler competed at an Elite Canada competition in Calgary earlier in the spring, which wasn’t a national championship, but was a world age group qualifier. There, Bodnar won gold in tumbling and bronze in double mini, Howell took gold in double mini and Mould teamed with Gavin Dodd of Kamloops to take gold in synchro trampoline.
“They had some strong results there, so we’ll see if that, after the national championships, allows them to be named to the team,” Conway said.
A Nanaimo Gymnastics School press release noted that the club is “beyond excited” about the recent results and Conway said it’s inspiring the next generation of gymnasts.
“They’re all pretty motivated to want to try to move up the ranks and see what teams they can make and I think it’s helped our artistic program, as well, in that the athletes see that even though we’re from a small community and a small gym, that they potentially could be medalling at doing well at [high-level competitions], too.”
In other provincial results, Schuler got silver in double mini and trampoline and bronze in tumbling, Howell took silver on trampoline and bronze on double mini, and Bodnar got silver in tumbling and bronze all-around. At Westerns, Harbo won gold in tumbling and double mini.
editor@nanaimobulletin.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
