For the fourth year in a row, the Richmond Olympic Oval was the host of annual Delta Invitational and Cash and Carry Cup, and 10 athletes from Vernon’s North Valley Gymnastics were among the more than 800 athletes in attendance.
The event theme was Embrace the Journey to recognize the amount of hard work and dedication that takes to excel in the sport of gymnastics, which teaches that people must embrace the good and bad days, the easy and hard moments, the successes and the failures, the friendships and the rivalries, the fun and difficult experiences. It represents a journey of age, growth, skill development, and ultimately, a desire to live an active and healthy lifestyle.
The competition was highlighted by Emma Locke in Junior Olympic 5 when she won gold on vault. Locke came back after a disappointing floor routine with two handspring vaults for the gold. Locke also had a strong bar routine to place eighth.
Other medal winner were Austin and Anna Skelly. Twin silver medals on vault for the North Valley twins. Austin competes in JO3 and earned top-10 finishes on bars (fifth), beam (10th) and floor (eighth). Anna competes in JO4 and also earned fourth-place finishes on bars and floor, and sixth in the all around.
Also competing in JO3 and 4 were Nicole Sjoberg (JO3), Alexis Sibilleau (JO4), Avery Goode (JO4) and Sam Munroe (JO4). Sjoberg had her best competition placing seventh in the all-around and top-10 finishes on all four events with a personal best score of 9.4 on bars and fourth place. Sibilleau was eighth all-around, sixth on bars, ninth on beam, and a PB score on vault (8.7) to place sixth. Goode was eighth in the all-around for her age category and was fifth on vault and seventh on both bars and floor. Munroe was solid on vault to place fourth, earned a seventh on bars and ninth on floor.
Brooklyn Mackenzie was the sole gymnast from North Valley competing in JO6. Mackenzie had a strong competition placing 5th on vault, sixth on bars, ninth on beam and eighth in the all around.
Makenna Sibilleau competed in JO1 and earned gold medal status for her vault, bars and floor; silver for her beam routine and gold for the all around. JO1 athletes compete against themselves and are not ranked against other JO1 athletes.
“All in all I’m very pleased with our gymnasts’ performances,” said North Valley competitive coach Naomi Rokus. “We continue to be a team of strong vaulters. We need some work on our balance for the beam. For some of the girls, it was their last meet of the season and it’s an awesome one to finish up at. Competing at the oval is a great experience and the Delta Gymnastics Club runs a great competition.”
