The Estevan Gymnastics Club was well represented at the provincial championship in Saskatoon from May 12 to 14.
Twelve athletes from the competitive group qualified to attend the competition, but two were unable to attend, due to injury and a scheduling conflict.
In the Junior Olympic 6 division for athletes born in 2006 to 2008, Zoey Thompson finished in sixth place. In the competition for those born in 2004 or 2005, Kelsey Kowalchuk took 12th place.
Junior Olympic 6 was the highest level that the local athletes competed at in provincials.
In Junior Olympic 4, Brooke Hodgson finished in 12th among those born in 2007 or 2008, while Kelsey Littlejohn was sixth for those born in 2004 and before.
Erin Kukura took 17th spot in Junior Olympic 3 for those born in 2005 and 2006.
The majority of the local gymnasts were entered in Junior Olympic 3 (born in 2004 and before). Megan Wilson finished 10th, Brianna Gusikoski was 12th, Abby Krupka was 13th, Chelsea Brady was 14th, and Angelle Avery wound up in 16th.
The standings are based on the gymnasts perform on four different apparatuses: the floor, vault, uneven bars and beams. The judges assign a score for each apparatus, and the standings are based on the cumulative result.
“I thought they did really well,” said Mary Renard, who is one of the coaches with the team. “Everyone seemed to do their personal best. It’s sometimes hard when competing against teams that practise more than 20 hours a week more than us, but for the most they did really well.”
Renard said the gymnastics club’s members have been practising nine hours a week at the Doug Third Hall since the beginning of September, and they have made a lot of strides.
“We have had really big success this year,” said Renard. “Two of our athletes (Zoey and Kelsey) are competing at quite a high level. They’re the highest that Rebecca (co-coach Rebecca Renard) and I have coached ourselves. A lot of them have improved immensely.”
Lisa Murphy and Mercedes Morstad also coached the team this year.
The gymnastics club had around 35 gymnasts in the pre-competitive and competitive divisions this year.
