Morning Star Staff
Autumn Doucette earned a gold medal at the B.C. Gymnastics Championships for her floor routine which featured upgraded tumbling and always elegant dance in Langley last weekend.
The North Valley Gymnastics club member added a sixth on bars, and a 12th in the all around in the JO 7 category.
“Autumn is such an impressive athlete, and she also works so hard. It was awesome to see her on top of the podium,” said NVGS competitive coach Naomi Rokus.
Brooklyn Ashby also competed in JO 7, and had an outstanding competition taking the silver in the all around, silver on the floor exercise, bronze on vault, sixth on uneven bars and ninth on balance beam.
Aysia Morgan, also in JO 7, had a strong showing on vault and floor, earning fourth on both. She also completed her giants on the uneven bars – the first athlete to do so for NVGS in more than 15 years.
“Brooklyn and Aysia competed in the Championships last year and it was for the experience. This year they both want to be placing on events and they both have been. It is very cool to have two girls so close in age and talent push each other and still be great friends – it makes my job a lot easier,” said Rokus.
Emma Doucette, Julia Kalin, Amy Sol and Jenna Cotter competed in JO 6. Doucette placed sixth in the all around, fourth on the uneven bars, fifth on the balance beam, and 10th on the floor exercise. Kalin, Sol and Cotter all gained important experience.
“Emma has so much fun. Her personality comes out when she does her gymnastics and it’s hard not to do well when you’re a positive person,” said Rokus.
Tyra Green and Charli Calvert competed in JO 6. Both athletes had a great competition with Green placing eighth on the balance beam and ninth on the floor exercise. Calvert performed one of her best uneven bar routines placing 12th.
Emma Eggert also competed in JO 6. She earned a 10 start value on all 4 events with her record all around score of 32.300 (13th all around).
Raedon Skanes, also in JO 6, earned 16th all around, with her best event a 10th on the floor exercise.
Added Rokus: “I’m so impressed and proud of our gymnasts. My coaching goal at the beginning of the year for the JO 6 athlete was for each one to have 10 start score – and they all did. This was the first B.C. Championships for all of the JO 6 athletes. They all gained valuable experience and, for the most part, fun. It’s good for them to see what the other clubs are doing and what they can potentially be doing.”
The event featured more than 500 athletes.