It’s almost the end of the competitive season for Calico gymnasts, and it’s coming to a close with a bang: competitors took home 21 awards during provincials in Moose Jaw on April 9 and 10. This included 17 medals, three choreography awards, and one team award.
“I could not have asked for a better way to finish off the competitive season and my last year coaching at Calico,” said their coach, Daisy Hart. “I am so proud of every single one of the athletes who competed this weekend. They all represented Calico and themselves phenomenally. Most people tend to think of gymnastics as an individual sport. However, I do not believe this to be true. Nothing is attainable without a support system, and to me that makes winning a team effort. These athletes would not have been able to (get) the amazing results that they did this weekend without the support of their teammates, parents and coaches.”
She went on to recognize the rest of the staff at Calico Gymnastics: Millie Hart, Molly Yungmann, Kaycie Perlett, Emma Hergott, Lily Yungmann, Karlee Lemmerich, Rene Miettenien, Danielle Wuchner, and Kayla Kaip.
To attend provincials, gymnasts have to go to a minimum of three competitions and get a minimum score at two of them, which changes among the categories. This year, Calico sent about 16 gymnasts.
“Even to have an athlete in the podium on one event is ... a big deal because they will be the provincial champion on that event,” Hart said.
She said this year was the biggest group that has gone to provincials. The team included gymnasts from Humboldt, Muenster, Lake Lenore, Quill Lake, Watson, and more.
In addition to the provincial gymnasts, three girls were chosen to represent Team Saskatchewan at the Hollywood Classic in Calgary on May 8-10. Each gymnast’s scores in a competitive year are tallied against other people, and the best represent Team Saskatchewan in different categories. This year, those chosen from Calico were Maya Berscheid, Kelsey Berscheid, and Amber Niekamp.
“I can honestly say, I’ve been coaching here for three years, and this is the best competitive year for me so far,” Hart said. “It’s an individual sport, but as a whole, these girls have been great team players. So one of them has a bad competition, but they never seem to let it affect them because they don’t want to affect the team.”
The following are the provincial winners:
The provincial one (P1) women’s team consisted of Quinn Volk, Ashley Frostad, Taryn Stock, Lexie Gollings, Donnell Smith, and Sydney McAvany. Gollings took second place on beam. Smith took first on floor, third on beam, and all around. Smith also took home the best choreography in the entire P1 category.
The provincial two (P2) women’s team consisted of Jazmin Lees, Katie MacLean, Paige Wuchner and Marie Millette.
Millette is the youngest competitor in the province competing provincial two and took home second place on beam. Lees also took home choreography award for the entire P2 category.
The provincial three (P3) team consisted of Amber Niekamp, Kelly Romanuik, and Kelsey Berscheid.
Niekamp placed first on floor, second on beam, and second all around.
Romanuik placed second on beam.
Berscheid placed third on vault, and first on bars, floor and all around. She was named the 2015 P3 open champion and took home the choreography award.
They also took home the P3 team award. Hart said that they beat out teams consisting of twice the athletes.
The provincial 4 (P4) women’s athlete is Maya Berscheid, who placed first on vault and bars.
The P1 men’s team consisted of Taylor Possberg, who took home first place on vault.
The P2 men’s athlete consisted of Ben Yungmann, who placed third on floor.
