Yukon gymnasts showcase talent at Juneau competition

In their final competition of the 2007-08 season, the Polarettes and Polar Tumblers Gymnastics Club went out on top, winning numerous ribbons, medals and trophies.

In their final competition of the 2007-08 season, the Polarettes and Polar Tumblers Gymnastics Club went out on top, winning numerous ribbons, medals and trophies.
The final meet of the season, titled the Southeast Alaska Invitational was held over the long the weekend in Juneau and featured gymnasts from the two clubs, who have a long-standing history of friendly competition with one another.
“They did great,“ said Catherine O’Donovan, the senior coach for the Level 1 and Level 2 girls’ gymnasts at the club.

“They had a really good meet. As a team we won first place team for both boys and girls. It is just a fun meet; we have a standing kind of fun little competition with Juneau. They come to our Yukon champs, we go to theirs whenever we can.“
This year, 13 Yukon gymnasts attended the Juneau meet. All of O’Donovan’s seven girls in both Level 1 and 2 competition attended.

Four other Level 3 girls also made the trip and two of the boys at the club participated as well.
The meet was a remarkable success for the club, who had three girls and one of the boys win the gold medal in the all-around age category.
Corey Baxter, who competed in the girls Level Three skill category placed first in all four events, being bars, vault, floor and beam as well as winning the gold all-around medal.

Alan Mark also put on a show for Gymnastics Yukon, placing first in all four events and winning the gold all-around medal.
Members of the Polarettes and Polar Tumblers also won an incredible five specialized trophies, which are awarded for individual achievements.

Altogether there were eight trophies presented at the meet, with the Juneau club winning the remaining three.
Among the trophies, Mark won for the most dynamic tumbler, Baxter won for most fluent bar routine and Forest Martin won for best leaps on the beam.
Other club achievements included Caitlyn Venasse, 10, who placed second on vault, floor and bars as well as finished fourth on beam.

She finished in third place overall in the nine and over age category.
This was Vanasse’s first Outside competition and she said she didn’t have any expectations going into it.
She said the best part of the competition was cheering on her teammates from the club.
Vanasse said she really enjoyed taking part in the Juneau meet and plans on taking part in more Outside competitions in 2008-09.
Alice Frost-Hamberg, eight, came back from Juneau with four first place ribbons and the gold medal in the girls’ eight and under category.
She said she was really happy about traveling to Juneau to take part in the meet.
“My mom has always wanted to go there, and same with me, and I got to meet new people,“ she said. “I liked practically everything.“
Frost-Hamberg said there was no individual ribbon or the first place medal that meant the most to her and that she doesn’t compete in the sport to win awards.

“I don’t really care about that,“ she said. “I just like it because it is fun.“
Alyssa Bunce, nine, has been in gymnastics for five years, but attending the Juneau meet was the first time she has participated in a competition in the U.S., which she said made taking part really special.
Bunce finished first in the vault,  second on floor, third on bars and fifth on beam.

She just missed out on placing in the top three overall, finishing fourth overall.
Bunce said placing first in the vault meant the most to her because she has never finished that high in the event. It was also special because the vault is one her favourite categories in gymnastics.
Fayne O’Donovan, a Level 2 gymnast, had a great meet in Juneau,winning two ribbons. Fayne won second on beam, third on floor, fourth on vault, fourth on bars and fifth in the overall category.
She said she was happy with how the meet went.
“I thought it went really good and I’m glad I got some of my skills that I was working on,“ Fayne said.
Some of the skills she was working on included the back-walker technique, which is a bonus performed that helped her win the second place ribbon on the beam.
Alana Lacosie, 9, also attended the meet in Juneau. She finished with three first place ribbons, including floor, bars, and vault as well as won the gold medal in the all-around.
She said she really enjoyed going to Juneau.
“It was fun,“ Lacosie said “I like going to other places.It was really nice to win something.“
Lacosie said winning the gold medal is the best thing she has ever won in the sport so far and plans on taking part in next year’s meet in Juneau.
O’Donovan, who has been a coach for the past 13 years and member of the club since she was eight years old, said the only expectations heading into Juneau were to have fun.
“We don’t take this meet super seriously,“ she said.

“For the younger kids, it’s their first competition usually outside of the Yukon. So it’s a fun way for them to learn about competition without the stress of like 100 athletes. I just expected them all to show me the best routines they could have and that is what I saw. I saw everybody do really good routines and everybody had a really good time. It is very different than our other competitions when we go to Calgary or Prince George.“
She said there are advantages to the Yukon club’s healthy competition with Juneau.
“They are the closest place to go and compete pretty much and it brings someone coming to our Yukon Championships,“ O’Donovan said.

“Without them, usually our Yukon Championships is just us because it is too expensive for other provinces and territories to travel here, whereas Juneau often makes the trip. It makes the kids less intimidated and they also often develop friendships with the gymnasts and each other when they stay in each other’s towns.“
O’Donovan said the group of girls she coached really benefited from attending the Juneau meet.
“The girls get a better perspective of what competition is like and what other kids their age are doing and they know more what they are working for,“she said.

“It’s hard for them to keep working and wanting to get better without knowing what they are up against.
It’s hard for them to even just watch T.V. and compare because on T.V. it is such a different level.

It’s like doing a different sport, so this just makes them a bit hungrier, makes them realize what they are working for and we always say competition is the fifth event for girls and competing is a skill in itself.
So they have to work hard at the competition as well. The more times they do it the better they get at it, just like any other event.“
She said she was really happy with how the meet went.
“I am really pleased,“ O’Donovan said. “I love the Juneau meet and it is just a good way to end it, just with some fun and the kids trying out.“