Submitted by Glacier Gymnastics
The Glacier Gymnastics team turned some heads at the 2022 B.C. championships in Surrey last weekend, taking home the first-place Level 7 team trophy and the second-place Level 6 team trophy.
The 13 gymnasts from Nelson’s Glacier Gymnastics Club also brought home 29 medals, including seven All Around titles and 24 top-eight placement ribbons.
The Canadian Competitive Level 7 team competed against 33 other gymnastics clubs across B.C. to capture the first-place team award. The B.C. championships is only the second in-person competition that the team has attended since March 2020.
“We haven’t seen any Lower Mainland clubs for over two years,” said head coach Sandra Long. “So this result was a pleasant surprise for the coaching team.”
Leading the Level 7 Team to victory was Asia Szczepanski, claiming the 2006-2007 age group all-around gold title. She also won gold on floor, silver on bars and beam. She was followed by teammate Anouk Prud’homme who captured the silver all-around, silver on floor and bronze on bars. Also, In the same age group Macy Loutit took the gold medal on bars and fourth all-around.
In the 2008-2009 age group, first time B.C. championships participant Anni van Hellemond captured all-around gold and one more gold medal on floor and a silver on vault.
Eden Bellman dazzled the judges on floor to win the gold medal and she was fourth all-around.
The Canadian Competitive Level 6 team, who competed against 36 other teams, missed out on the first-place trophy by 0.025. “This was the first B.C. championships for all seven members of this team,” said Long. “It was wonderful to see how prepared and confident everyone was, especially in an environment that can appear intimidating.”
Jersey Skolka won the all-around gold in the 2009 age group and also took gold on bars, silver on floor and bronze on beam. Teammate Emerson Mandseth claimed the bronze all-around medal and also the bronze on vault.
New to competitive gymnastics this year, Malaya Tasse Yarmark won the bronze all-round in the 2007-2008 age group, and brought home three more gold medals for vault, beam and floor. Teammate Molly Anderson won gold on floor, silver on bars and fourth all-around
Anika Denkovski, coming off of an injury, competed in two events in the 2009-2010 age group, taking the bronze medal on bars.
In the 2010 age group, Rebecka van Hellemond won her first B.C. championships medal, a bronze on bars and came eighth all-around. Lumay Plautz also came eighth all-around in the 2003-2007 age group.
Competing in her last B.C. championships, veteran gymnast Brianne Stefani finished strong in the Canadian Competitive Level 8 category with a bronze medal all-around, silver on floor and bronze on bars.
“This was a fantastic ending to a wonderful gymnastics career for Brianne,” said Long. “Because of school commitments she has been training between three-to-six hours a week and she was still able to compete against the best in B.C. It’s a testament to the amazing gymnast that Brianne is.”
Long said the coaches and members of Glacier are very proud and overwhelmed by the success of its gymnasts this season.
“There is a lot of unseen hard work and dedication behind these results. It was wonderful to watch the team overcome so many challenges, which were compounded by the difficult times of the past two years. Their confidence, happiness and overall positive outlook is an inspiration.”
The Glacier team will now focus on preparing for the Kootenay Zone Championships, which the club is hosting April 22-24.