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Polarettes cap season with championships, awards

Whitehorse's Polarettes didn't win every division at the Yukon Gymnastics Championships on Saturday. Just the ones they entered.
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Whitehorse’s Polarettes didn’t win every division at the Yukon Gymnastics Championships on Saturday. Just the ones they entered.

Polarettres Gymnastics Club athletes claimed all-around titles in seven of eight divisions as they hosted seven gymnasts from Juneau.

Whitehorse’s Hailey Sherman didn’t win her division - she placed second all-around in Junior Olympic 8 - but she took in a big prize at the end of the day. The 11-year-old was named Polarettes’ Athlete of the Year.

“I’m feeling great and it’s really nice to have it,” said Sherman. “I’d like to thank everyone for voting for me for it. I guess I’ll keep working and try to get another one next year.”

Sherman placed fifth on beam at the 2016 Western Canadian Artistic Gymnastics Championship and then won a silver on beam - tying teammate Emily King - at the 2016 Delta Invitational in May.

“Hailey, at the beginning of the year, was a JO Level 6, and now she’s a JO Level 8, so she’s gone up two full levels, which is usually unheard of,” said Polarettes head coach Kimberly Jones.

“On top of that she’s one of the most respectful athletes. Athlete of the Year means for us, you have to have good sportsmanship. She is one of the kindest, most respectful kids I’ve ever come across.”

Olivia Vangel, a Level 2 winner on Saturday, was named hardest working pre-competitive gymnast. Ava Jampolsky, who drastically increased her training hours this season, was named hardest working competitive gymnast.

Kalina Morrison, who moved up from JO Level 3 to 4, was named most improved.

King (who tied Sherman for a silver in Delta) was given the sportsmanship award.

“Emily has been injured for most of the season, but she’s been in the gym every day, making sure she’s keeping up her program,” said Jones. “She’s really taken a year to cheer on her team ... and help her team rise to the top as best she can.”

Polarettes’ Reena Coyne came away with the top position at the championships - but almost didn’t compete at all.

The 16-year-old, who retired from competition and turned to coaching after last season, decided to come out of retirement for the championship. She took first all-around in Level 8 with firsts on vault and floor, and second on beam.

“I started joking around in the gym because I really miss it, and then Kim (Jones) thought it was a good idea so I just went with it,” said Coyne. “(It went) better than I expected. I’ve only been training for two weeks, so I wasn’t sure how it was going to go. I was in it more for the fun and then it went better than I thought.”

Contact Tom Patrick at

tomp@yukon-news.com

Results:

Level 2 (group A)

1st Olivia Vangel (Yukon)

2nd Kasey-Lynne Cozens (Yukon)

3rd Cambry Lockhart (Juneau)

4th Jillian Levy (Juneau)

5th Wylloh Dinn (Yukon)

Level 2 (group B)

1st Camile Belanger (Yukon)

2nd Amelie Guilbeault (Yukon)

3rd Mia Raymond (Yukon)

4th Maya Heebink (Yukon)

5th Mayabel Beaudreau-Young (Yukon)

6th Jayda Steele (Yukon)

Level 2 (group C)

1st Mackenzie Tonner (Yukon)

2nd Maya Pearl Hudson (Yukon)

3rd Talia Campbell (Yukon)

4th Cydney Williams (Yukon)

5th Sascha Nelson (Yukon)

6th Sierra Merriam (Yukon)

Level 3

1st Kate Koepke (Yukon)

2nd Kya Larkin (Yukon)

3rd Skylar Oliva (Juneau)

4th Raiya McCutcheon (Juneau)

5th Marielle Martin (Yukon)

Level 4

1st Kalina Morrison (Yukon)

2nd Riley Boland (Yukon)

3rd Kaelin Tibbles (Juneau)

Level 6

1st Maude Molgat (Yukon)

2nd Ella Paldy (Yukon)

3rd Ava Jampolsky (Yukon)

4th Anna Gishler (Yukon)

5th Lily Witten (Yukon)

Level 7

1st Megan Lujan (Juneau)

2nd Rayna Gehring (Juneau)

Level 8

1st Reena Coyne (Yukon)

2nd Hailey Sherman (Yukon)

3rd Emily King (Yukon)

4th Bianca Berko-Malvasio (Yukon)