Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Gymnasts shine at home meet

Record number of athletes qualify for provincials
1614gymnasts
Members of the Whistler Gymnastics Club gave a great performance at the weekend's competition, which was held at Whistler Secondary School.

The Whistler Gymnastics Club hosted the B.C. Zone 5 Championships and Interclub Competition this past weekend, inviting clubs from the Sea to Sky, Sunshine Coast, North, West and downtown Vancouver to Whistler Secondary School.

It was a big meet for the Provincial Level 2 and Level 3 gymnasts, as the top-six athletes in each category would advance to the provincial championships taking place in Langley from April 17 to 20.

The Whistler club shined at home, with a record seven athletes qualifying for the provincials and several other athletes making the cut as wild cards. Gymnast Keeley Wentzel also managed to place first all around against athletes from the top clubs in the province in her age group.

"It was a great achievement for her," said meet director and coach Tami Mitchell. "I don't want to say it was a surprise, but anytime you go up against the top clubs in the province where the girls get a lot more hours of training than we have available it's pretty hard to place first all around."

Keeley Wentzel competed in the Level 2 Tyro category, where she placed first on bars, first on floor, fourth on vault and seventh on beam to place first all around out of 19 competitors. Carly Mann was third all around, with a silver medal on the bars, a bronze on bars, fifth place on vault and sixth on beam. Ali Marriott was just one spot back with a gold on beam, silver on vault and ninth place finishes on bars and floor. Cambria Willis was seventh all around, with sixth place finishes on bars and floor. Jesse Budge was 13 th , Charlotte Mahoney 17 th , and Christina Saldat 19 th .

In Level 2 Novice, Hannah Raffler placed second all around with silver medals on vault, beam and floor and a sixth place finish on bars. Katrina Underhill was sixth all around, with a gold on the floor and bronze on the vault, and Maye Akama was ninth all around with a fourth on floor and fifth on bars.

In Level 2 Open, Jasmin Budge was third all around with bronze medals on vault and bars, and fifth place finishes on beam and floor. Lenka Prochazka, who tied for first overall at the Surrey Invitational, had an off day on beam, but still placed fourth all around with a gold on bars, silver on vault and fourth place finish on the floor. Tyece Fairweather was seventh all around with a bronze on bars and fourth on beam, and Meg Halliwell was ninth with a gold medal on beam. There were 12 athletes in the category.

There were only three athletes in the Level 3 Open category. Rebecaa Flynn placed second with gold medals on the bars and floor, while Nicola Halliwell earned a silver on vault. All three athletes will go to provincials.

The Level 1 athletes competed on Sunday morning. In Level 1 Argo, Caleigh Lamont placed fourth all around out of 26 athletes with a silver medal on bars, fourth on vault and fifth on beam. Hannah Peatfield earned a gold on vault and a bronze on beam to rank eighth all around. Caitlin MacConnachie was sixth on beam and seventh on vault to place 18 th .

In Level 1 Tyro, Jamie Gormely won silver on vault and placed fifth on beam en route to fifth all around. Kayley Ogilvie-Turner's best result was ninth on floor to rank 10th, while Kaylea Ranger placed ninth on vault to rank 12 th .

Athletes qualifying for the provincials were Keeley Wentzel, Carly Mann, Ali Marriott, Kartina Underhill, Hannah Raffler, Jasmin Budge, Lenka Prochazka, Rebecca Flynn and Nicola Halliwell.

Both teams also won first and second place team trophies, and Whistler gymnasts won the overall spirit trophy for sportsmanship after the event.

While the club has been practicing hard since September, Mitchell said it made a difference for the girls to have a full floor to train on for the week leading up to the competition. "It really improved our gymnasts' overall performance on the floor, which really showed in the scores," she said. "When we get a full-time facility where the girls will practice on a full floor all the time we're really going to be able to produce some good routines."

Many of the gymnasts have also grown up with the club, and have been with the same coaches for five or more years. This is also the first time in club history where they have two Level 3 athletes competing at the provincial level.

Currently the club trains at Spring Creek Community School, setting up and taking down the equipment for every class. As a result the club isn't able to offer athletes as many training hours as clubs in the Lower Mainland, and relies on parent volunteers to help every afternoon and evening. Mitchell thanked the group of volunteers that helped move all that equipment, including a rented floor, to Whistler Secondary for the meet and for all their work over the weekend.

"It's a huge project, and we really couldn't have done it without the parents," said Mitchell. "We've been getting e-mails from other clubs telling us how well the meet was run, appreciating how much work went into it. We do hope to host more meets and interclub events in the future - we love to bring people to our town, and I think we do a good job."

The Interclub athletes competed on Saturday, with coaches, provincial athletes and judges acting as evaluators. There were no scores, and every athlete came away with a trophy and some advice how to improve for future competitive events. Athletes taking part were Jennifer Lafreniere, Nicole Boulanger, Joe Davies, Lauren Wentzel, Emily Sargent, Madeline Blazer, Robin Mann, Erika Champion and Mackenzie Wilson. Interclub trampoline athletes taking part were Adam Bell, Callum MacConnachie and Carter Krasny.