Provincial finals mean medals for Laurels gymnasts

There was plenty of good news from Windsor as two of the six athletes representing the GymZone – Sudbury Laurels returned home from the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics (WAG) provincials with medals in hand, with others enjoying some breakthrough moments.

After Brooklyn Lavallee set the tone with her aggregate silver medal performance on April 9, Kayla Folz followed suit. Competing at the national level for the first time in her impressive career, Folz made the finals (top eight) in every event, but the bars, placing fifth on the beam and sixth on vault — among the country's top young gymnasts and in first national-level competition.

More exciting was the fact her results allowed the St. Charles College student to earn a spot on the Ontario team, which represents the province at the Eastern Canadians in New Brunswick from May 8-11.

Working her way through to the event specific finals on Saturday, Jenny Drane earned a silver medal on her floor exercises.

“For the past couple of years, floor has been my event, but when I was younger, it wasn’t at all,” said Drane. “It’s so much fun, the combination of power and dancing. I just don’t feel the pressure on the floor. I just go out and have fun.”

Karine St Georges likely also followed that event, setting new personal best scores on both the beam and the floor.

Kiana Valentim returned home with a pair of top-eight placings, finishing seventh on both the bars and the floor. Making the jump from Level 6 to Level 7 this year, Nikka Valentim showed notable improvement, especially on the vault.

NorthernLife.ca will let you know how the boys did later this week.