There were a number of strong performances at the Yukon Gymnastics Championships.

The Championships were held last Friday at the Polarettes Gymnastics Club in Whitehorse.

55 athletes competed in the event.

The ages of the athletes ranged from seven to 17 years old.

There were no males competing in the event.

“All of our competitive team athletes are currently female,” said executive director and head coach Kimberly Jones.

“But we’re looking into boys competitive streams for the new facility. We just don’t have the space for men’s equipment. They have six events and we’re crammed in.”

Jones said the athletes’ performances were “fantastic.

“We were extremely excited to see, particularly our younger athletes, our Xcel Bronze and Silvers, scoring quite high and having a really tough competition. None of us knew who was going to win because it was so close and we saw really high quality work.

“The club has been working really hard to improve the development of our younger athletes,” explained Jones. “That’s been kind of a priority for us as a club. And we definitely saw that, so it was kind of a good marker of the changes we’ve been trying to make for our coach development and just our program as a whole.”

One of the standouts for Jones was Myah Tabujara, who competed in Xcel Bronze C.

“She got a perfect 10 on her floor routine. And it was absolutely gorgeous to see. That doesn’t happen very often. I was judging. I’m a pretty strict judge. And when (Mia) finished the routine, I realized my pen hadn’t touched my papers so that was a pretty cool moment.

“I’m the strictest judge. I have a reputation. I don’t give those out very often. That was exciting.”

Maya Breckinridge competed in the CCP 6 category.

“She came first all around and she had made the last place in our Arctic Winter Games trials. So it was exciting to see her come out on top and it was a huge improvement for her and shows that we’re sending a strong team to the Arctic Winter Games.”

One other group stood out for Jones.

“Our Level Eights (CCP 8) all made the minimum score to compete at the Western Canadian Championships this April, which is great.”

A team of six athletes will represent the Yukon at the Western Canadian Championships April 18-20 in Langley, B.C.

Jones explained how the criteria for the Westerns works.

“There’s very specific rules in gymnastics. To be eligible to go to Westerns, you have to be a minimum of Level 8. There’s 10 levels in total.”

The minimum amount of points required to make Westerns at the 2024 Yukon Champs was 34, up from 32 last year.

“The kids were really pushing to make sure that they could meet that minimum and they all exceeded that. So we’re excited because that means that we’re going to have a comparable team of athletes, to what southern delegations are scoring down south so we’re pretty pleased to be sending a strong team this season,” related Jones.

“They have to have a certain skill level and a certain difficulty level in their routine. And then also in order to get a minimum score, they have to have a really good cleanliness level. So that’s got to look good and be hard.”

Lily Witten led the CCP 8 contingent with 35.95 points, although Jenna Henderson matched that score. Witten, however, was ranked first in two events.

Witten was competing in her 10th and last Yukon Champs, as she is graduating this year.

“Lily has been a member of our club since she was four years old. And she’s now 17 and going off to university,” said Jones. “She ended up winning the meet, which was kind of an exciting highlight for her.”

Jones said Witten is the longest running gymnast that she’s seen at the club.

“I’ve coached her longer than I’ve coached any other athlete. I’ve been in the club for eight years. And she was the youngest in the group when I first moved here. She was kind of the team baby and now she’s off to university, which is sort of crazy to see.”

Jones said Witten probably wasn’t the longest-tenured athlete in the history of the club, which is approaching the 40-year mark, as there have been many long-tenured gymnasts there over the years.

“We’ve been 30 years in our current facility. We opened in 93 in the current facility but the club was operating before that for quite some time as a setup and take down club in the schools.”

Speaking of facilities, Jones is looking forward to the opening of the new gymnastics and climbing facility in Whistle Bend. That’s now projected for March 31, 2025.

“The progress is happening right now. The walls are starting to be put up, which is exciting to see.

“We’re ramping up behind the scenes to increase programming and move to a much, much larger space. It’s almost three times the size of our current space.”

Competitions coming up include one the team will be heading to in Montreal March 5.

“We’re sending seven athletes to an international competition, called Le International Gymnacs. We haven’t been to that event because of COVID since 2020.

“We had landed in March 2020 from Montreal, if you can believe it, coming back from that event, and then about five days later, the territory shut down and the competition hasn’t ran since, so we’re excited to return to that.

“And then we’ve got a team at Arctic Winter Games and then B.C. Champs and then Westerns, so got a lot on our plate. Every two weeks for the next six weeks, we have competitions.”

The Yukon is sending a team of four athletes to the Arctics, including Breckenridge.

Jones said the minimum age to compete in gymnastics has gone up to 12 years from 10.

“We’re hoping to have a good team. The team is made up of athletes that don’t train quite as much as some of our other athletes that were training and that were ineligible to try out for the games this year. So it’s just a bit different going into the season.

“We have a wonderful group of teen athletes that will be representing us in the category and we’re looking forward to seeing how they compete. We’re just excited to see what happens.”