THUNDER BAY – SPORTS – A group of Thunder Bay gymnasts brought back a large stash of gold from a recent tournament in the United States.
The suitcases of thirteen athletes from Thunder Bay’s Ultimate Gymnastics were a little heavier after a very successful weekend at the 2015 Gopher Invite Gymnastics Competition held this past weekend in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The competition, comprised of over 1300 athletes, from the United States and Canada, saw several gymnasts from Ultimate, mine more than their fair share of medals.
Leading the way with a first ever for the club, was the team of Kathleen Varey, Aimee-Leigh Balec, Emily Ukrainec, Christiana Collins and Katerina Hamar, who placed 2nd in LEVEL 8 Junior Olympic Team Competition, after capturing more than 15 individual medals between them.
Varey finished competition with 1st Place All Around and Balec nabbed 3rd Place All Around in their respective Level 8 age categories. Hamar and Ukrainec finshed tied for 1st on floor while Collins and Hamar grabbed a 2nd place tie on beam in their Level 8 age bracket.
In the Junior Olympic Level 6 All Ages category, Julianne Bica and Daniele Prochnicki finished 1st and 2nd respectively in the All Around. Among the 9 medals these two young athletes received was 4 Gold, 4 Silver and 1 Bronze.
In the Junior Olympic Level 7 Age 13+ bracket, Megan Bryson captured a 1st place finish on beam and a 4th place finish on floor while Cassandra Boyer finished 5th place on vault and 5th place All Around.
Rounding out the results with solid efforts were Bryanne Simmons, who won her first Gold Medal with a 1st place finish on vault in the Xcel Gold Age 12+ category, Erica Etreni who finished 7th on floor in the Xcel Gold Age 11 category, Caitlin Stallwood, with 9th place on floor and 10th place on vault in the Xcel Gold Age 13+ bracket, and Hannah Hoogsteen, who, in her first ever competition, grabbed 16th place in the All Around finals of the Xcel Bronze Age 6-9 category.
