Young gymnasts from Jasper won their fair share of awards at the Summit Invitational hosted by the Canmore Illusions Gymnastics Club on May 23-26.
Jaqui Chabrel-Davis, who is a gym coach and sits on the Jasper Gymnastics Club board, said it had been a couple of years since three of the athletes had competed while the other three had never competed prior.
“It was so thrilling to see them walk away with such a good turnout, and it was a nice validation for us that we're on the right track,” Chabrel-Davis said.
“But the kids were great, and they had a great time.”
This was Coach Kiara Davis’s first time attending a competition as a coach and not a competitor.
Davis, who has been a competitive gymnast for 10 years, looked very comfortable in this role, encouraging her athletes, adjusting equipment to their specifications and conversing with coaches from the other clubs.
“This is the only event this year [for the club] because it had been a while since we’ve gone in, and Kiara’s still in Grade 12, so we couldn't get down to any other ones,” Chabrel-Davis said.
“This was a good goal for us to set and a good—I don't know, something for the kids to really work towards and really hone in on some of those skills, so this worked out great.”
Generally, the club would try to start competitions in February with the goal of going to three or four, with the Summit Invitational in Canamore occurring toward the end of the competitive season.
Coaches Chabrel-Davis and Davis noted how proud they were of gymnast Sofia Artiaga for her confident beam routine, having just mastered the difficult dismount six days prior.
When the Jasper gymnasts weren't competing, the two coaches observed other levels competing to see the progression of skills required for next levels and to gather more information about another competitive program called “Xcel.”
Saturday evening gave them the opportunity to meet other senior coaches, coaching facilitators and judges.
The full list of awards are as follows:
Level CPP1
- Maya Larde: Vault - Gold, Bars - Gold, Beam - Gold, Floor - Gold, Overall - Gold medal
- Arielle Langley: Vault - Gold, Bars - Gold, Beam - Gold, Floor - Gold, Overall - Gold medal
Level CPP2
- Lucy Caputa: Vault - Gold, Bars - Gold, Beam - Gold, Floor - Silver, Overall - Gold medal
- Lily Auger: Vault - Gold, Bars - Silver, Beam - Silver, Floor - Silver, Overall - Silver medal
- Helena El Maleh: Vault - Gold, Bars - Silver, Beam - Gold, Floor - Silver, Overall - Gold medal. Received recognition for “Most Dynamic Vault.”
Level CPP3
- Sofia Artiaga: Vault seventh place ribbon with a score of 9.25.
