Sudbury Laurels rack up eight medals in Windsor

Talk about an impressive encore.

After scoring a perfect 10 at the Raise the Bar competition last weekend, Brooklyn Lavallee could not possibly have envisioned doing one better. Yet the all-around gold medal at the provincial championships for the Level 5 gymnast representing the Sudbury Laurels/GymZone certainly constitutes a little "one-upmanship" for the talented teen.

Lavallee earned gold on vault and floor, bronze on the balance beam, as well as the overall aggregate title in her grouping in Windsor.

"Three gold and a bronze in one of the largest categories competing this weekend is impressive for sure,” said coach Terra Davidson.

Teammate Kayla Folz etched her spot as one of the premier vault specialists in the province, earning Level 9 gold on the apparatus, and adding a second medal via a third-place performance on the floor exercises.

Patricia Hunt followed up her victory at the city high school (Level 5) championships, picking up a bronze medal in the Level 5 - Age 14+ floor exercises, with Ashley Miron garnering a fourth-place ribbon in the vault in the same classification.

The medal haul was capped off by Jennifer Drane, a Level 8 gymnast who displayed her versatility on the floor, earning yet another bronze medal for the Laurels contingent.

"A total of eight provincial medals for our club is very impressive," said Sudbury Laurels/ GymZone director Lisa Kivinen. "With all of the new rule changes, and going back to scoring out of a 10, these results show the great work we are capable of here in our northern gym."

Other noteworthy results included Nikka Valentim (Level 6 - sixth on bars, seventh all-around), Mara Kendall (Level 7 - fourth on vault), Brielle Charlebois (Level 7 - 11th place on vault) and James Tremblay (Level 3 - fifth place on still rings).

Charlebois was making her debut at a provincial meet. The GymZone will continue to be busy for some time yet, with the tumbling and trampoline crew preparing for their provincial championships, while interclub gymnasts build off their performances at Raise the Bar, getting ready for an end-of-year competition in North Bay.