By Dan Plouffe
It was a parade to the podium for many local athletes as the Ottawa Gymnastics Centre hosted a women’s artistic gymnastics provincial championships qualifier Feb. 22-24, and nowhere was that more evident than in the Level 8, Age 14+ category.
When all the powder had settled, three gymnasts from the host club were standing side-by-side-by-side displaying gold, silver and bronze medals, having earned the top three all-around positions in their 10-athlete division.
“It was fun,” recounts Mackenzie Cox, who finished second, in between OGC teammates Nathalie Joanette in first and Bradey Rosettani in third. “There we were – 1, 2, 3 – all of us together.”
Each of the three athletes achieved their personal-best scores, while OGC teammate Sahara Frojmovic also celebrated a gold medal on uneven bars in the same category.
“It was a really good feeling knowing that we represented our club really well,” adds Joanette, who missed the early portion of her competitive season due to a back injury. “We all did our personal-best.”
It was a memorable moment for a trio of athletes who have trained together for the better part of a decade. Although they are pitted against one another in competition, they do pull for one another since they’ve become such close friends.
“I want them to do well because I care about them as well,” notes Joanette, who was fueled by her teammates’ strong performance before she’d then tackle the same apparatus. “You feel more comfortable because you’ve got friends around you to cheer you on.”
The OGC girls began on the rotation that carried the greatest potentially for trouble since they were each performing brand-new vaults.
“It’s something that was really, really challenging for them in the past,” highlights coach Sara Baker. “Seeing them perform so well on their vault was probably my proudest moment.”
It was a meet full of standout moments for the home club. Adrianka Forrest and Sofia Baggio combined to win every apparatus in L9, A12-13, with Baggio conquering vault, balance beam and floor, although Forrest’s bars routine sent her to the all-around title.
Lily DiTomasso was the AA winner in the L6, A13 class, while Natalka Forrest (with the best score in the province this year) and Bella Musca placed 1-2 in L7, A9.
Rebecca Richardson swept every L7, A16+ discipline and took over the top provincial ranking from Les Sittelles’ Emilie Dubuc.
Mackenzie Capretta was third all-around and Cecily Whitlaw won gold on beam and floor in L6, A9. Maya Frojmovic took L6, A10 beam gold, Grace Boxer was golden in the L7, A10-11 vault, beam and floor for third AA, and Mackenzie Connelly earned floor gold en route to second AA in L7, 12-13, while Emma Christie claimed gold on vault and beam in the same category.
In L9, A14+, Meaghan Smith won bars and was second AA, Taylor Pyefinch won vault, and Christie Boswell-Patterson – in her return from a second major knee surgery – competed in bars and beam, winning the beam competition.
“They all did fantastic,” Baker smiles. “It was so nice. They were on their home turf, or home carpet. They had that advantage and they definitely delivered.”
Perhaps no one delivered in a bigger way than Suzana Diacomescu. The L6, A11 athlete had been ranked 23rd in the province before the competition, but wound up posting the best total score in Ontario this season in winning her AA crown.
“She just peaked,” Baker explains, highlighting Diacomescu’s exceptional floor routine and clean performances in other events to preserve points lost to falls. “Being here at your own gym, you have that comfort level.”
Only a handful of gymnasts from other Ottawa clubs competed at the lone local qualifier on the calendar. OGC usually hosts the first qualifier of the season in December, but decided to run the competition later this year in order to combine it on the same weekend as the annual Tulip Classic meet. The idea was to not overtax the club’s volunteers, who will also be counted on for nationals.
With limited number of spaces available and schedules that didn’t align for some local clubs, Gymnastics Ontario assigned many of the entries to out-of-town clubs.
“Sometimes there’s just too many clubs wanting to attend one meet,” Baker notes.
A sprinkling of other Ottawa gymnasts did leave their mark at the qualifier – Corona’s Megan Wilgosh won bars and beam en route to a L5, A11 all-around victory, Olympia’s Meghan Heer’s score in winning L6, A14 beam gold showed the potential for a provincials podium, and Mackenzie Lewis from Tumblers Gymnastics Centre was second AA in L5, A12.