Local gymnasts vault into top positions to kick off competitive season

Christie Boswell-Patterson of the Ottawa Gymnastics Centre not only won a pair of gold medals, she also won a trip to Cancun this past weekend at a Gymnastics Ontario Tour Selection meet this past weekend at Base Borden Gymnastics Club.


Boswell-Patterson\’s first-place results on uneven bars and balance beam helped her to third place overall in the Level 8 13+ event, which earned the Grade 10 Glebe Collegiate Institute student a spot on the eight-member team that will compete in the Cancun Classic Jan. 5-8 in Mexico.

Boswell-Patterson was the lone local athlete to earn a Tour position in the Level 7, 8 or 9 categories, although several Ottawa gymnasts earned top results in other divisions at the event near Barrie.

Sarah Stacey of Nepean-Corona placed well in all four of her events en route to a gold medal performance in the national open competition, taking silver on beam and bronze on vault.

Julie Anne Fiset won bronze on bars, Erica Fowlow took bronze on floor and Alexandria Nolan won silver on vault and bronze on beam as the 10-year-old Tumblers Gymnastics Centre athletes competed in pre-novice events.

“This is the first competition of the year for these three girls,” Tumblers general manager Karl Balisch notes in an e-mail. “It was a good experieince for them, providing important exposure to a higher level competition and preparing them for the season to come.”

Ottawa Gymnastics Centre will host a large provincials qualifier meet Dec. 3-4 with over 225 athletes.