By Dan Plouffe
The top athletes from the host Ottawa Gymnastics Centre kicked off their Feb. 3-5 meet in style as Taylor Jackle Spriggs and Bruno Webster both earned Tour Selection berths for the Kyle Shewfelt Gymnastics Festival in Calgary.
Jackle Spriggs was the all-around champion in the national open category, using strong results on each apparatus to clinch his overall gold despite only one individual event crown on the parallel bars.
“I just came here to have fun,” says Jackle Spriggs, crediting a good rings performance – usually his weak event – for the title against top competitors from across the province. “I wasn’t expecting to get first place, but I had solid routines and it turned out for the best.”
With four hours a day training at OGC – not to mention another two hours in the car – the Grade 12 Arnprior District High School student says the reward is worth the effort.
“It’s a lot of fun. I like being active, and flipping around in the air is just awesome,” explains Jackle Spriggs, who still wants to add new skills to his routines before the season is done. “Hopefully the next competitions are a lot more like this one.”
Webster feels similarly about the end result – a national youth all-around bronze medal – although he would change some of the particulars.
“I’m kind of surprised I made (the Calgary team) because I really messed up on my floor routine,” notes Webster, explaining that he accidentally repeated the same tumbling line twice, perhaps because he was concerned about an ankle injury that struck just a few days before the first event of the season. “I’m pretty proud of this considering the injuries.”
The Grade 10 Pierre Savard high school student is thrilled about getting the chance to represent his province at the March 25-27 competition in Calgary.
“I’m really excited,” says Webster, who was very pleased to have the season-opening meet at his home gym. “It’s going to be a fun experience.”
With the most competitors of any club in the national open competition, it was also a successful night for Scott McFarlane, Tyler Glavind and Justin Perry from the Tumblers Gymnastics Centre as they each made their career debuts in the event’s highest category.
“I’m really proud of them,” beams Tumblers coach Nick Grimard, emphasizing the tremendous dedication required to reach the national open level. “These guys train about 15 hours a week and they’ve been doing it since they were eight years old. They’re very committed.”
The Tumblers had 20 athletes in total compete in the various classes that range from provincial Level 1 to 5 up to the national streams. Those type of all-time high numbers are encouraging to Grimard, who started the Tumblers boys’ competitive program when he was in his final years at Sir Wilfrid Laurier Secondary School.
“We’re one of the bigger programs in Ontario, so we’re pretty proud of that,” notes Grimard, who has coached most of his national-level athletes for 10 years now. “And every year we’ve been trying to get a little better.”
A number of local athletes hit the all-around podium in various categories, with the top four finishers in provincial Level 3 and 4, as well as the national stream, earning positions for the Shewfelt meet.
The winners included OGC gymnasts Alexander Granzer-Guay (second), Sebastien Baranyi (second), Thomas Rado (third), Nicholas Mikhai (second), Alex St. George (third) and Arryn Jackle Spriggs (third), and Alexander Don (first) and Paolo Nera (second) from the Tumblers.