Archive: May 2006

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MAY 20 – DAMIANOVA, GAFUIK, AND KIKUCHI DOUBLE EVENT WINNERS AS NATIONALS CONCLUDE

Nansy Damianova, Nathan Gafuik and David Kikuchi took two titles each at the event finals of the Canadian Gymnastics Championships. Damianova, third all-around earlier in the week, struck gold on the first two women’s apparatus, the vault and the uneven bars. She also took bronze on the balance beam and silver on the floor exercise, making her the only woman to medal on every event. Alyssa Brown took gold on the balance beam, a redeeming effort after a missed routine on that event had cost her a medal in the all-around earlier in the week. Brown also finished second on the vault. All-around winner Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs took gold in the floor exercise and was also second in the uneven bars and balance beam. Other event medalists include Crystal Gilmore, who took bronze on the vault after a disappointing 12th place in the all-around finals on Thursday; and Gael Mackie who took bronze on the uneven bars and balance beam. Full senior women’s event finals results can be downloaded at Gym Score Depot.

For the men, new all-around champion David Kikuchi took gold on rings and high bar, with all-around silver medalist Nathan Gafuik taking his two golds on the vault and parallel bars. Kikuchi also took second on pommel horse, with Gafuik taking bronze in the floor exercise. The other two apparatus titles went to Adam Wong on floor exercise and Ken Ikeda on pommel horse. Wong was also second on rings and parallel bars, and Ikeda third on vault. Other apparatus medalists included Norihiko Horie (second on floor and vault), Kris Krunick (third on pommel horse), Luke Boyd (third on rings), Matt Beiler (third on parallel bars), and Pat McElroy (second on high bar). Full men’s event finals scores can be downloaded at Gym Score Depot.

The junior women also crowned individual event champions on Friday. All-around winner Kristina Vaculik struck gold twice, on the uneven bars and floor exercise. Vaculik also took bronze on the vault and silver on the balance beam. Brittany Rogers took gold on the vault (and also finished third on uneven bars) and Charlotte Mackie on the balance beam (as well as second on floor exercise). Other junior women’s medalists were Stephanie Pacitto (second on vault, third on floor), and Sydney Sawa (second on bars and third on beam). Visit Gym Score Depot to download full junior event finals results.

Results from all artistic sessions can be downloaded from the gym-score-depot nationals results page.

MAY 19 – HOPFNER-HIBBS AND KIKUCHI CROWNED CANADIAN CHAMPIONS

Two new Canadian senior champions were crowned at the national championships in Quebec City last night. Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs of Sport Seneca took the women’s title and David Kikuchi of ATLA took the men’s title. It was the first senior all-around title for both gymnasts. According to a Canadian Press article, Hopfner-Hibbs executed two new moves on the balance beam, which for her “was a big thrill”, adding that executing new skills in a pressure situation such as a national championship was “nerve wracking” but her international experience this season really helped her. Her score of 60.0 points gave her a comfortable lead for the title finishing ahead of Omega’s Gael Mackie (57.10) and Nansy Damianova of Gymnix (56.45) who finished second and third. The top eight was rounded out by Alyssa Brown of Gymnastics Mississauga (55.00), Brittnee Habbib and Jenna Kerbis (53.70), Leslie Mak of Seneca (53.20) and Cynthia Lemieux of Gym-Richelieu and Rebecca Simbhudas of Pulsars (52.95). Visit Gym Score Depot for full senior women's all-around scores.

Kikuchi had been in the top three at nationals several times, but this marks his first title. He had been in third place going into his final event, the high bar, but came up strong to win. He had a combined two day score of 178.05 to defeat Nathan Gafuik of University of Calgary by a small margin (177.95), with defending all-around champion Adam Wong of Calgary Gymnastics finishing in third (177.30). Both Wong and Gafuik had errors on their final event to open the door for Kikuchi to win. “I didn't really think I'd get another chance to be in contention because a lot of these young guys are so good," Kikuchi noted after the meet. Click here for full senior men's all-around scores.

The junior men’s all-around was also finalized last night. AJ Rayment of Mississauga took first place (157.65) followed by Jackson Payne of Edmonton (155.58), and Alexander Hoy of Richmond (154.35). Visit Gym Score Depot for full junior men's scores.

MAY 18 – VACULIK TAKES JUNIOR WOMEN’S TITLE AT NATIONALS

Kristina Vaculik of Gemini Gymnastics took the junior women’s all-around title at the Canadian Gymnastics Championships in Quebec City last night. Vaculik earned a 57.95 points to take first place ahead of Calgary Gymnastics’ Sydney Sawa (54.30) and Gymnastics Mississauga’s Stephanie Pacitto (54.10). The same three gymnasts made the all-around podium at December’s Elite Canada competition, where Vaculik took first, Pacitto second, and Sawa third. Rounding out the top six were Charlotte Mackie, Brittany Rogers, and Emma Willis. Full results are available here at the gym-score-depot site.

MAY 17 – HOPFNER-HIBBS AND WONG LEAD DAY ONE OF SENIOR NATIONALS

Double Commonwealth Games gold medallist Elyse Hopnfer-Hibbs of Sport Seneca and defending Canadian champion Adam Wong of Calgary Gymnastics Center took the lead on the first night of competition at the Canadian Gymnastics Championships in Quebec City yesterday. Hopfner-Hibbs leads junior aged senior Nansy Damianova of Gymnix 58.85 to 58.70, with each gymnast splitting first place event rankings; Damianova took the top scores on the vault (14.70) and uneven bars (14.90) and Hopfner-Hibbs broke the 15 point mark to score highest on the balance beam (15.35) and floor exercise (15.15). Alyssa Brown ranks third (55.35), followed by Gael Mackie of Omega (55.20), 2000 Olympian Crystal Gilmore of Taiso (55.10) and Rebecca Simbhudas of Pulsars (53.70) rounding out the top six.

For the men, defending all-around champion Wong leads fellow 2004 Olympian David Kikuchi of Alta by a very close margin on day one: 89.35 to 89.13. Following closely in third is University of Calgary’s Nathan Gafuik (88.50), considered a pre-meet favourite after a successful all-around season that included medals at the Commonwealth Games and Pacific Alliance Championships. Rounding out the top six all-around are Jared Wells of Capital City (86.35), Olympian Ken Ikeda of Abbotsford Twisters (85.70 – including the top pommel horse score of 14.90), and Hugh Smith of Alta (83.00). Not competing on all apparatus was world floor exercise silver medallist Brandon O’Neil of Capital City who posted the highest apparatus scores on two of the four events he competed: vault (16.50), and parallel bars (15.0), and second and third on the other (14.90 for second place on floor and 14.55 for third place on high bar).

The junior men also had their first day of competition yesterday, with AJ Rayment of Gymnastics Mississauga leading the way with a 77.95 score, followed by Alexander Hoy of Richmond (77.45) and Jackson Payne of Capital City (76.70). Rounding out the top six are Raphael Sansfacon of IMCO (75.15), Vladimir Sofonov of Altador (74.75) and Danny Chambers of West Coast Gymnastics (73.75).

The men’s and women’s champions will be crowned on day two of the competition on Thursday evening. Full results are available at the gym-score-depot website.

MAY 16 – VACULIK LEADS JUNIOR WOMEN’S QUALIFYING AT NATIONALS

Elite Canada champion Kristina Vaculik of Gemini Gymnastics lead the junior women’s qualifying at the Canadian Gymnastics Championships in Quebec City last night. Vaculik scored 56.40 across four events, including the highest totals on the uneven bars (14.50) and floor exercise (14.35). Finishing second was Bluewater’s Emma Willis (54.75), with Omega’s Brittany Rogers (the highest scorer on vault – 14.10) rounding out the top three (54.05). Stephanie Pacitto (Gymnastics Mississauga), Sydney Sawa (Calgary), and Charlotte Mackie (Omega) finished fourth through sixth, scoring 53.80, 53.40, and 51.75 respectively. The junior women’s champion will be decided on Wednesday night, where the competition will be new life.

The top six juniors bring a lot of international experience with them to this year’s nationals, with Vaculik, Rogers, and Mackie having competed at the recent Pacific Alliance Championships in Hawaii, while Willis competed at the Romanian International, Pacitto in Ukraine at the Stella Zakharova Cup, and Sawa who has twice competed at the Gymnix International and represented Canada in Mexico last year.

The competition continues tonight with the first round of competition for the senior gymnasts.

Complete junior women’s results can be downloaded at gym-score-depot. Two other helpful links to follow the championships this week include the gym-score-depot nationals page and the official 2006 Canadian Gymnastics Championships homepage.

MAY 14 – GERBER MAKES TWO FINALS IN GHENT

Flanders Arena, site of the 2001 World Championships, played host this past weekend to another World Cup event. Aisha Gerber added to her fan base Friday, wowing the crowd on beam and floor. She finished 9th on bars, and advanced to the beam and floor finals in second and third place, respectively. Finals proved more challenging for Gerber, who finished finals 5th (FX) and 6th (BB) place positions.

MAY 6 – MACKIE SIGNS WITH UTAH

Athens Olympian Gael Mackie has verballed to the University of Utah, with plans to enroll in Fall 2008 after vying for a berth on the 2008 Olympic team. "It's a bit early, but I just wanted to do it because I'm so sure I wanted to be at Utah," Mackie told Utah's Desert Morning News. "I know it's the place for me. I've been following them for many years, and they just are so good at gym. They've got a great coach, good academics, good support—the whole package that I'm looking for." She will officially sign in November she told Utah's Deseret Morning News. 

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