OGC athletes crowned provincial champions
Okanagan Gymnastics Centre was represented by the artistic men and women along with the trampoline and tumbling athletes at the 2018 BC Gymnastics Championships in Port Coquitlam.
More than 1,000 athletes competed for the crown as provincial champions in their respective age categories and levels.
Women’s Artistic Gymnastics
Kate Levinsen and Kamryn Greenhalgh emerged as provincial champs in Level 6 and Level 10, respectively. Greenhalgh earned a spot on Team BC and will be competing at the Canadian Championships in Waterloo, Ont., in May. Her coach, Heather Ivanitz, will also be coaching Team BC at that event.
Levinsen won the Level 6, 2005 age category after earning second place on vault and bars and third place on beam and floor.
Veronika Yacovelli was the provincial champion on three events for her performances on the bars, beam and floor, which led to a third overall.
Piper Campo finished second overall in the 2007 age group, where she finished as the floor exercise provincial champion and also earned a silver on beam.
Iulia Tarasenco is the provincial floor exercise champion in the Level 7, 2007 age category. Tarasenco finished sixth overall, tied with her teammate Sydney Ortynski. Ortynski’s top finish was a fifth place on the balance beam.
In the Level 5, 2004-2006 age category, Taylor Morrison finished eighth overall with a fifth place on vault. Raedyn Furneaux finished eighth on the floor exercise.
Haylee VanSteinburg placed third overall in the 2007 age category after finishing in second place on vault and first on beam.
Shiphra Penner finished fourth on bars and floor exercise to place seventh overall. Alexandra Kennedy finished fifth on vault, while Eva Solano placed eighth on vault.
Izabelle Coetzee finished second on vault and sixth overall in the 2008 age category. Tara Dunn was fourth on bars and beam for seventh overall. Junelle Sabang’s top placing was sixth on balance beam.
Taylor Bowden competed in the Level 8 category where she finished 10th on vault.
Amanda Jaggard finished fourth on bars and balance beam in the Level 9 2005-2006 age category, while Kyleigh Crawford was fifth on bars. Samantha Pelletier placed 11th on balance beam.
Greenhalgh finished as the all-around provincial champion in the Level 10, 20032005 age category. Greenhalgh earned a silver medal on floor and a bronze on the balance beam.
Gabriela Beselt finished with a bronze on the uneven bars for a seventh overall finish.
Vanessa Bulcock competed in the Level 10, 2000-2002 age category where she finished fifth on the vault.
Olive Fenske competed in the Aspire 1 category where she placed seventh on the vault.
In the Aspire 2 category, Miah Denis finished with a bronze medal on the uneven bars and fifth overall. Natalia Simeunovic placed fifth on vault and uneven bars.
Men’s Artistic Gymnastics
Elliot Bone earned a gold medal as provincial champion on the rings in the Level 3 competition. This category consisted of nearly 30 young men vying for the top spot.
Rylen Thompson finished with a silver medal on vault and eighth overall in the Level 3 competition.
Brent Rambold placed fourth on pommel horse and sixth on rings. Nate Banner finished eighth on the floor, while Artiom Potapciuc was 13th on rings and Tristan Edwards was 16th on vault.
In the Level 4 competition, Willis Plant finished fourth on floor and eighth on pommel horse, vault and overall.
In the Level 1 category, Preston Popoff won gold on floor, vault and parallel bars, and earned silver on pommel horse, rings, high bar and all-around.
Chase Houston finished with silver on floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and all-around, with a bronze on high bar. Peyton Henry earned gold on pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars, high bar and all-around, with a silver on floor.