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Gymnasts to show heart in Vernon

Top-calibre rhythmic gymnasts will show their stuff in the 16th annual Queen of Hearts Invitational competition starting today.
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Rema Buschow Pander competes in the ball routine in a rhythmic gymnastics meet in Las Vegas.

Morning Star Staff

Top-calibre rhythmic gymnasts will show their stuff in the 16th annual Queen of Hearts Invitational competition starting today at the Vernon Rec Centre.

The event will draw 150 of Western Canada’s best. National team athletes will compete Saturday 4:45-7:45 p.m. and Sunday between 12:30-5 p.m., with younger and developing athletes competing all day today and during the mornings Saturday and Sunday.  Admission is free.

“We are really looking forward to the Queen of Hearts when we will have the chance to show our work here in Vernon,” said Okanagan Rhythmic Gymnastics Club head coach Camille Martens.

Featured athletes include 16-year-old national team pool talent Megan Hamilton, Cindy Huh and Kaylie Choi.

“These athletes, ranging in ages six to 17, train up to 30+ hours a week and the Queen of Hearts is an opportunity to showcase the culmination of their hard work to friends, family and the community,” said media director Debra Haldane.

There will be a concession and an assortment of raffle tables as the club raises funds to offset travel costs. Some locals will be competing in places like Moscow, Athens and Lisbon in the coming months.

The gymnasts, meanwhile, began 2016 with an intense two-week events tour. A team of Vernon athletes, including Canadian Team Pool members 13-year-old Jaedyn Andreotti and Hamilton, first attended the Questo Invitational in Montreal.

Hamilton earned a bronze in ball while Andreotti took bronze medals in both hoop and clubs.  Emmalee Holland and Isabella Haldane also made top-eight results in the junior category, while Rema Buschow Pander was top-eight in all events in novice.

The team then headed to Toronto for a training camp to work with Olympian Alexandra Orlando, top judges and other elite athletes before meeting additional Okanagan team members at the Las  Vegas International Invitational.

Rema Buschow Pander of the local club was the top Canadian with fifth overall in novice.

The junior and senior competitions were divided into an open category (level 9) and a national team section (level 10).

Haldane was the top finisher in 9 junior claiming seventh overall.  In 10 junior, Andreotti was eighth overall, also claiming top Canadian.

In level 9 senior, Tessa Rohatensky pocketed  sixth in hoop and ninth in clubs, while Leah Defeo cracked the top-10 in her ribbon routine. Hamilton was the second Canadian in 10 senior and ended up 16th overall.  The senior 10 comp was won by Aliya Protto of the U.S.

“Many would recognize her and silver medal winner Natasiya Generalovna from Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off video,” said Martens. “Bronze was won by Estonia’s Carmel Kallemaa.”

Added Martens: “Having the chance to watch the girls in back-to-back events and have that kind of focused time with them early season is ideal. It helps us identify in-competition weaknesses and gives us time to address them before our big ranking events begin.”