The North Valley Gymnastics Society (NVGS), who have recently moved in to their new digs, are savouring medals from the recent Ogopogo Invitational in West Kelowna.
Close to 1,000 athletes competed at the Ogopogo with North Valley represented by 30 in Junior Olympic (JO- competitive) and Interclub (recreational). North Valley was in levels 3-8 in the JO division.
Autumn Doucette competed for the first time in level 8 and delivered a new, more difficult handspring with a full twist vault and placed sixth, pulled off a solid beam routine for fourth and worked through a new bar routine for an eighth.
“This was Autumn’s final competition at NVGS as she is heading off to university in the fall,” said coach Naomi Rokus. “She has been a such an amazing competitor and teammate over the years and she has been a wonderful example to the younger athletes. We will miss her very much.”
Emma Locke found herself on top of the podium for her JO level 4 vault and bar routine. Locke also finished sixth on floor and eighth on beam. Locke took silver in the all around and her best all-around score in level 4.
Alexis Sibilleau had an excellent level 4 bar routine earning the silver medal. Amelia Spitzer and Sam Munroe (level 4) improved their vaults to finish fourth and sixth respectively.
Izzy Gelter competed in JO level 6 and had an outstanding competition finishing with a silver medal on beam, bronze medals for vault and bars and eighth on floor. She finished with the bronze medal in the all around.
Brooklyn Mackenzie, Amy Sol, and Emma Eggert also competed in level 6. Mackenzie earned a bronze medal for her vault. Sol competed a new vault: a half-on-half-off earning for fifth, and she stuck her beam routine to place fifth. Eggert improved her vault to place eighth.
Competing in JO level 3 were Olivia Phair, Anna Skelly, Neala Hackman, and Avery Goode. Phair had an awesome bar routine to strike gold, while a powerful vault earned her the bronze, and she was fourth with a steady beam routine. Phair was sixth all around.
Skelly had great floor and beam routines to earn fourth- and fifth-place finishes. Hackman had a stellar vault to finish eighth and Goode had a strong floor routine to end up eighth. Julia Kalin and Charli Calvert competed in JO level 7.
Kalin competed in three events and earned a pair of fourths on vault and bars and fifth on beam. Calvert had one of her best competitions of the year, placing in the top-10 in all four events with a highlight sixth on beam.
“An excellent finish to the competitive year for the athletes,” said Rokus. “The girls all have a lot of fun at this competition and they’re all pretty relaxed. I’ve seen a lot of growth in our team over this past year and I’m very excited to see what the coming years will bring.”
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