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Local gymnasts strong at home competition

Seven gymnasts finished at the top of their age and skill group in the biggest meet of the year, as the Canmore Illusions club winds down a successful season.
Illusions gymnast Abby Houck leaps above the beam during the Summit Invitational at the Canmore Rec Centre, Friday (May 6). Houck tied for first in the discipline and was
Illusions gymnast Abby Houck leaps above the beam during the Summit Invitational at the Canmore Rec Centre, Friday (May 6). Houck tied for first in the discipline and was second overall in the P2 Tyro division.

Seven gymnasts finished at the top of their age and skill group in the biggest meet of the year, as the Canmore Illusions club winds down a successful season.

Thirty Canmore Illusions gymnasts were among 390 competitors at the biggest competition of the year, as athletes from across Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba competed in the Gymnastics Summit at the Canmore Rec Centre last weekend.

Ivy Tupper, Krista Scurfield, Stephanie Nunn, Ariana Kolenda, Erika Lepper, Tess Engel and Melissa Cavaliere all finished at the top of their class, resulting in an impressive gold medal haul for the local club.

“It’s nice for them to do well when the groups are bigger. I’m really happy with how they performed,” said girls head coach Marilou Gariepy.

The competition was the first for many of her Level 1 and pre-Level 1 competitors.

Those gymnasts had six weeks of training leading up to the competition, and the extra prep time paid off.

The time off from competition gave the girls a chance to fix mistakes in their routines, and Gariepy said they responded admirably.

“For this group, it’s a lot about form – keeping toes pointed, legs together. It leads to harder skills. All of the Level 1’s did a fantastic job,” she said.

Gariepy was impressed with Lepper’s win, which was her first all-around win

as a Level 2 gymnast. She said she worked very hard to progress to that level.

Tupper, the youngest Canmore competitor in the pre-Level 1 at age 7, won her class with ease, finishing first on the vault, bars and beam with a second on floor.

In the Pre-Level 1 Pre-Argos, Scurfield finished first on bars, third on vault and fourth on floor a first place all-around. Ayden Bartlett finished third overall in the same class. Francesca Bacani and Britt Richardson finished fifth and sixth.

In Pre-Level 1 Tyro, Nunn was first with gold medals on the vault and beam, while teammate Claire Beattie finished second in the all–around competition. Anna Parent was sixth in her class.

Gariepy was extremely impressed with Kolenda and India Whitfield’s performance. Kolenda was first on bars and tied for second on the vault and floor. Whitfield finished fifth overall.

Jazlyn Evans finished third in the P1 Tyro, earning a second-place finish on the beam.

On top of Lepper’s win in the P2 Argo, Skylar Belczyk finished third in the competition.

Abby Houck finished second in the P2 Tyro, winning gold on the bars and the beam. Tess Engel took her win in the P3 open competition with a gold on the beam and silver on the vault and bars.

Cavaliere rounded out the Canmore girls group with an excellent performance on the vault and beam to secure first overall in the P4 open.


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