Photo Credit/Cover Design: Lorne White/KelownaNow
Five young gymnasts with the host Okanagan Gymnastics Centre came away with all-around gold at the 31st Annual Ogopogo Invitational on the weekend at Royal LePage Place in West Kelowna.
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Competing with 950 female competitors from throughout B.C., Alberta and Yukon, the OGC’s Taya Renou (Level 3 Novice 1), Kaleah Lo (Level 3 Novice 3), Peyton Anderson (Level 4), Sydney Ortynski (Level 7) and Olive Fenske (Aspire 2) all earned first-place finishes during the three-day competition that included 32 clubs.
Photo Credit: Lorne White/KelownaNowOlive Fenske of the OGC claimed overall gold in the Aspire 2 Division.
Renou delivered a perfect 10 on the vault on the way to her overall gold while Level 3, Novice 1 teammate Jayde Bartel eared the gold medal on bars and a bronze on vault in her age group.
In the Level 1 and 2 categories, the athletes earned a gold, silver or bronze ribbon based on the range of their score. Lia Daniels, Keyanna Celedon-Davies, Allegra Butler, Hailey Holte, Victoria Schmidt, Kinsley McFadden, Gia Horniak finished with silver overall, while Cherry Jia Rui finished with a gold overall.
Lo represented OGC in the Level 3, novice 3 category and finished first overall after earning a gold on floor and silver medals on both balance beam and bars
Photo Credit: ContributedPeyton Anderson earned gold for her overall Level 4 performance.
In the Level 3, novice 2 category, Leila Turner finished with a silver on floor, a bronze on vault and second overall. Amelie Cantin finished with a fourth on both vault and the balance beam.
Noora Tanha finished second overall in the Level 3, Junior 1 category after earning gold on vault with a score of 9.9, a silver on floor and a bronze on beam. Zoe Burnett placed third overall after earning a gold on beam and a bronze on vault.
Anderson won her overall gold in the Level 4 novice category by finishing first on the bars, second on vault and beam and earning a bronze medal on the floor exercise.
Photo Credit: Lorne White/KelownaNowThe Okanagan Gymnastics Centre's Milani Ritchie was among the top performers in the Aspire 1 Division.Madison Parnell claimed the bronze overall, after finishing first on beam while Brielle Leach earned a bronze medal on vault. Lexi Crawford competed in the Level 5 Junior category, finishing seventh overall.
Stella Zobel finished ninth overall in the Level 5 Senior category after finishing fifth on beam while Hartley Jones represented OGC in the Level 7 Novice category, placing seventh overall.
Level 7 Senior competition saw the OGC’s Ortynski take the overall gold with the help of gold on the bars, silver on both the vault and balance beam.
Photo Credit: ContributedOGC's Kaleah Lo top performer in Level 3 Novice 3.Caitlin Keeler led the host club’s domination on the vault with a gold-medal performance of 9.725 points. She also claimed the silver on the bars while Katie Flaten took the bronze
In Level 8, Morgan Clark won a bronze medal on vault.
Natalia Simeunovic finished third overall after she earned a gold medal on beam and a bronze on bars in the Level 9 category, while Miah Denis finished with a silver medal on the balance beam. Kyleigh Crawford finished with a sixth place on beam.
Fenske finished first overall in the Aspire 2 category with her best performance being on the vault while Milani Ritchie finished first in the Aspire 1 category, vault event. Rae Roworth earned a bronze on vault.
Photo Credit: Lorne White/KelownaNow
In the Performance categories, the athletes earn a gold, silver or bronze ribbon based on the range of their score.
In the Performance Plus category, Emma Sinclair, Zairie Bredeson, Abby Arnold, Catalina McCosker and Jayden Van Leenen finished with a silver overall, while Jasmin Kallushy finished with a gold overall.
Shaynne Stewart finished with a gold ribbon in the Performance Challenge category while Aida Hedstrom, Eliza Bell, Olivia Lewis and Hannah Unruh finished with a silver.
Photo Credit: ContributedThe High School Gymnastics program is unique in that it provides athletes ranging from beginners to competitive level the opportunity to compete for their schools.
Nyah Hedstrom placed first overall in the HS 2 Level after winning gold on bars, while Olivia Pilato won bronze on both the bars and overall in the category. Charlotte Ford also performed well, earning a silver on vault.
In the HS 3 Level, Hannah Maeusel placed first on beam and third on vault. Jordan Hilverda placed fourth on bars while Hailey Johnson’s best performance was on the balance beam.
OGC athletes dominated the HS 4 Level where Laura Siegnthaler finished first overall, Olivia Dunley second, and Ella Simmons third.
Rebecca Koschny earned gold on bars and beam and silver on floor in the HS 5 Level.
