Gymnasts cap off season on winning note

The overwhelming majority of the gymnasts representing the GymZone Sudbury Laurels recently capped off their 2013-2014 season, and they did it in style, with the group returning home with five all-around champions and an overall second place finisher.

Competing at the 2014 North Bay Gymtrix Sunshine Classic earlier this month, local medal winners included Savannah Starling-Brisebois (Level 3 — age 11), who turned in a nearly flawless floor routine, winning gold and adding silver on both the vault and the bars in placing second overall in her category.

Showcasing her versatility, nine-year-old Level 4 gymnast Grace Perrier racked up gold medals on the vault, the beam and the floor, adding a fourth-place ribbon on the bars en route to her aggregate championship.

Emma Shea (Level 5 — age 11) was rewarded for her diligent work in practice, producing her best meet of the season. Demonstrating confidence and consistency on all four events, Shea medalled across the board, earning gold (bars), silver (vault) and bronze (beam and floor), and topping her grouping as the all-around winner.

Patricia Hunt (Level 5 — age 14+) and Marisol Toupin (Level 5 — age 10) also walked away with aggregate gold medals, with Hunt finishing first on vault and beam, while Toupin showed the way on the bars, competing in one of the strongest age categories that was featured in the three-day event.

Finally, Brooklyn Lavallee closed out her memorable season, moving up a notch (Level 6 — age 13+) and not missing a beat. After recording a perfect score at the Raise the Bar meet in Sudbury, Lavallee stepped up in capturing medals on all four events (gold-vault; silver-beam and floor; bronze-bars) and leading the way in the all-around placings in North Bay.