Athletes from the Polarettes Gymnastics Club locked up the majority of podium spots at the Juneau Spring Meet during the weekend of May 19 in Juneau, Alaska.
The Whitehorse club won all-around titles in three of the four divisions it was entered in at the meet, hosted by the Southeast Alaska Gymnastics Academy.
Winning all-around were Anisa Albisser in Level 2 (under 10), Megan Banks in Level 2 (11 and over) and Fayne O’Donovan in Level 3.
Strong results from all the Polarettes competitors helped the club win the team competition.
Banks was definitely a standout, finishing first in all four events for her category.
“Megan has an awesome meet,” said Polarettes head coach Cat O’Donovan. “She felt really good. She’s just looking at moving up to Level 3, so it’s definitely a step in the right direction. She might compete in Level 3 at our Yukon championships in two weeks here.
“The same with Anisa. She came first in her age category in Level 2. Both of those girls are working hard to move up to the next level.
“They both had great competitions, which means they’re probably ready for that move.”
Albisser almost had as good results in her division as Banks, taking first in three events and second on the bars.
Fayne placed first on the vault and the floor, second on the bars and fourth on the beam.
“It was a tough meet for her. She still hasn’t recovered for an abdominal injury, so she just managed to do a very watered-down bar routine,” said Cat of Fayne. “But it was very clean.”
Polarettes also posted a pair of second-place finishes. Level 2’s Robyn Poulter and Level 3’s Caitlyn Venasse both reached the second tier of the podium for their respective categories.
Poulter took second on the floor and third on the vault and bars. Venasse finished first on the beam, second on the vault and third on the floor.
“Beam is definitely Caitlyn’s top event,” said Cat.
Polarettes’ Kendra Peters, competing in Level 3, snagged second on the floor and finished third in the other three events, taking third all-around.
Eight-year-old Emily King and 11-year-old Sydney Cairns competed in their first meet in Juneau. King, the only club member in Level 1, finished second on the bars en route to taking fifth all-around. Cairns took fourth on the vault and bars, and snatched fifth all-around.
Polarette’s other Level 2 for under 10, Maggie Fekete, placed third on the vault and went on to take fourth all-around.
Fayne, Venasse and Peters all competed at the 2012 Arctic Winter Games in Whitehorse, winning the Yukon a bronze in the team event. Fayne won a total of four medals at the Games, including a gold on the vault.
A month later Fayne won gold on the vault at the B.C. Artistic Gymnastics Championships in North Vancouver, B.C. Also at the B.C. championships, Venasse won a fourth-place ribbon for the beam and placed eighth all-around.
Contact Tom Patrick at tomp@yukon-news.com