Four competitive Provincial Level 1 gymnasts of the Yorkton Springers Gymnastics Club participated at a competition in Saskatoon over the weekend. Coach Todd Appel says the young gymnasts did pretty well. While he believes there was room for improvement, the girls did very well at the Marian Giant Freeze Invitational 2012 tournament.
The team managed a first, third, fourth and fifth all around performances in their respective classes.
While they have the potential to turn in better performances, Appel points out that three of the four girls improved their scores from their first competition of the current season. "There were a few little mishaps where things could have gone better but overall it was a good competition and there's still room for improvement so there's still hope for even better results," says Appel.
"Gymnastics is an unforgiving sport. You get one shot," he suggests. One little wobble here or there in one of the four events could drop a gymnast three places in the standings, Appel explains. "It's hard to perform to perfection and that's what they're looking for every time," he adds.
As coach Appel tells his athletes he doesn't only consider medals won. He looks to find steady improvement in performance. "I just want to see a steady improvement right up to provincials. If they get a medal, that's great. If it doesn't mean they get a medal but they are still improving, that's what sport's all about," Appel closes.
All around results for the Yorkton gymnasts were: Provincial 1 Tyro - Hayley Fayant-Stephens, third (44.318). Provincial 1 Novice - Meaghan Pinno, gold medal (46.667); Alison Landstad, fourth (45.601); Laura Betker, fifth (45.301)
