Kayla Folz cracks provincial gymnastics roster

Sudbury gymnast Kayla Folz has wasted no time at all settling in to her new level of competition.

One of four athletes representing the GymZone — Sudbury Laurels at the 2014-2015 WAG (Women’s Artistic Gymnastics) Tour Selection competition in Etobicoke, Folz cracked the provincial roster in her first meet at the Level 10 (National Open) classification.

The Grade 10 student at St. Charles College finished in third place on floor, vault and beam, enough to secure her fourth place in the all-around standings, and a place on the Ontario squad that heads to the Lady Luck Invitational in Las Vegas (Nevada) from Jan. 16-18 (2015).

“Honestly, I wasn’t necessarily expecting to do really well,” admitted Folz, back practising at the New Sudbury facility on Gemmell Street. “I wanted to go in and build experience for national, because it’s brand new to me.”

“I just wanted to hit some of the solid routines that I’ve been hitting in practice.”

While both the vault and floor have historically been her strongest events, Folz was especially pleased with her efforts on the beam at the Selection meet.

“I stuck all of my skills on my beam routine without wobbling, and I landed two of my brand new skills.”

Folz nearly had very familiar company on the team as Brooklyn Lavallee narrowly missed cracking the top eight of the Level 6 competitors, named as an alternate to the team.

Lavallee’s weekend was highlighted by a second-place finish in the vault, as well as a fourth-place finish on the floor. Joining the local duo were Kiiana Valentim (fourth on the vault) and Jennifer Drane (fourth on floor).