There are plenty of smiles at the Surrey Gymnastic Society (SGS) this week, after five gymnasts returned from the Western Canada Championships ion Brandon, Manitoba with some impressive results.
Competing in her first Western Championship, Viktoria Duchesne won the all around bronze medal in the Aspire 1 category, and Emanuel Gutierrez Sandoval and Carter Barker became Western Canadian Champions during event finals. “Two apparatus champions and one gymnast on the all around podium shows great promise for our program’s future,” said John Carroll, the competitive program director at SGS. “I am very proud of all five of the SGS athletes. This is the highest level of competition these kids could qualify for this season.”
Duchesne posted top-six scores on all four events – one of just two gymnasts in her category to do so – to earn her all around bronze medal on Friday )(April 28). The nine-year-old was fourth on uneven bars and floor, fifth on beam and sixth on vault.
“She had six extremely solid events,” said Carroll, adding Duchesne “wobbled a bit” on beam but made “a good recovery and got a good result.”
Gutierrez Sandoval just missed an all around medal on Friday, placing fourth overall in the Elite 4 group. The 13-year-old qualified for five apparatus finals, and on Saturday, he won the gold medal on the vault. Gutierrez Sandoval added a silver medal on high bar, a bronze medal on rings, and was also fifth on pommel horse and sixth on parallel bars. “He trains pretty hard, and he’s had a good season,” said Carroll of Gutierrez Sandoval, who was competing in his third Western Canadian Championship.
Carter Baker, 11, was ninth all around in the Provincial 4 category on Friday, but tied for the high score on floor to qualify for Saturday’s event final. He had the high score again in the final, netting himself a gold medal. In the same category, Luke Van Harmelen placed 10th all around, with his best result being a 10th on parallel bars.
Muzzamil Taziz, 14, was 14th all around in the Provincial 5 group. His best result was a seventh-place score on floor.