Athletes from Abbotsford’s Twisters Gymnastics Club turned in a series of sparkling results at the provincial championships in North Vancouver last weekend.
A trio of Twisters were crowned B.C. all-around champs in their respective divisions – Steven Chaplin (national youth), Carissa Williams (provincial level 4 novice) and Jeremy Gaspar (provincial level 3, over 13). Additionally, Twisters women’s national open team finished in second place.
Ten athletes also qualified to move on to next month’s elite meets – the Western Canadian championships in Langley, and the national championships in Regina, Sask.
Five locals qualified for both events – Cohen Kiers, Marquita Morison, Steven Chaplin and siblings Andry and Dawson Friesen.
Kyle Machibroda-Ames and Aidan Daniell qualified for Westerns, while Ken Ikeda, Nicolas Garfias and Zachary Clay will advance to nationals.
Other all-around medals came from Garfias (silver, high performance tyro), Elijah Horner (silver, level 3 over 13), Curtis Olivier (bronze, level 4 over 13) and Dawson Friesen (bronze, high performance argo).
In the level 1 boys division, which recognizes all gymnasts with medals, Brogan Neufeld and D.J. Tarbaj won all-around gold.
The younger members of the Twisters women’s team competed in the Christy Fraser Memorial Invitational in Langley on March 31, highlighted by all-around bronze medals for Kimberly Vander Meulen (provincial level 2 tyro) and Emma Doede (KIP 2), a gold medal on the beam for Jadyn Ansell (provincial level 2 tyro), and bronze medals on vault and beam for Megan MacLellan (KIP 2).