Three zone champs among highlights for Salta at gymnastics meet in Calgary

At one of the biggest meets of the season, Medicine Hat gymnasts showed their mettle and earned a lot of medals.

Salta Gymnastics’ 11 athletes combined for 23 medals at the University of Calgary International Cup this past weekend, which doubles as Southern Zones.

Leading the way was a trio of zone champions. Rachel Little’s all-around gold was perhaps the hardest-won, as there were 65 girls in her Level 3 division. The seven-year-old won her division with a 9.733-point vault, was fourth on floor and in the top 10 on bars and beam to claim the all-around. Teammate Ainsley Vander Gaast was fourth, taking second on the floor and fourth on bars. Daniele Hollingworth was third on floor and sixth allaround, and Kipp Stevens was seventh allaround.

Olivia Chenard took the zone title for Level 4 nine-and-under, winning her events on floor (9.583 points) and vault (9.516). Teammate Lili Moriarty pushed Chenard, taking second on floor, third on vault and third on uneven bars to claim second all-around.

Kristin Friesen took the Level 2 zone win, the seven-year-old second on floor and bars and winning with a 9.550-point beam routine. In the same division, Salta’s Aubri Krassman was third thanks to a winning 9.400-point vault, tying Friesen on beam and taking third on floor.

She didn’t win the all-around due to a couple falls on the balance beam, but everything else Hanna Round was medal-worthy in Calgary. She clinched a spot at provincials April 9 in Fort McMurray thanks to a secondplace floor routine (9.550 points) and thirdplace vault and bar scores.

Finally, Ria Thacker was sixth all-around in Level 4, landing a silver on vault with an 8.866point effort.