DECEMBER 16 - VACULIK AND TI LIU TAKE TOP HONOURS AS ELITE CANADA COMES TO
CLOSE
The 2007 Elite Canada came to a close today, with the apparatus finals
contested. The newly crowned women's all-around champion, Kristina Vaculik,
took home the most medals in today's senior subdivision; gold on vault and bars,
and a silver on beam to Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs. Senior newcomer Peng Peng
Lee placed first on on floor.
In the junior women's event, Ti Liu was the big winner, taking
gold on bars and beam and a silver on floor. Kristin Klarenback won vault
and Laurel Clouston topped the standings on floor.
DECEMBER 15 - GAFUIK TOPS MEN AT ELITE CANADA; SAVONA AND LYTWYN TAKE JUNIOR
TITLES
Calgary's Nathan Gafuik retained his day 1 lead to claim to senior
men's all-around title at Elite Canada in Abbostford, B.C. Abbostford's own Ken
Ikeda finished second, with Hugh Smith of Halifax rounding out the
podium. In the junior men's division, Burlington's Kevin Lytwyn also
retained his day 1 lead to take the all-around title. John Hall of
Calgary finished second and Saskatoon's Loren Anderson third.
Saturday also saw the junior women's all-around contested, and topping that
field was Mississauga's Jessica Savona. Runner up was Montreal's Ti
Liu, with Vancouver's Sky Corbett-Methot finishing third.
Competition continues Sunday with the event finals.
Full scores can be found at Gymnastics BC: senior
men's day 2, senior
men's combined AA, junior
men's combined AA, and junior
women's AA.
DECEMBER 14 - VACULIK TAKES ELITE CANADA TITLE
Oshawa’s Kristina Vaculik claimed the senior women's Elite Canada tonight in Abbotsford, B.C. Vaculik posted the night's only score about 15 points, scoring 15.200 on the balance beam.
She also posted the best bars scores of the night, 14.800.
A number of Canada's juniors were slated to make their first senior
appearance tonight. Second place in the all-around went to one of these senior
newcomers, Peng Peng Lee of Sport Seneca. Lee turned in the night's
highest score on floor, 14.600. Beam, a traditional strength for Lee, proved a
challenge, with some 3 falls and a missed dismount.
Gymnix's Nansy Damianova placed third all-around. 2007 World team
members Sydney Sawa and Alyssa Brown placed fourth and seventh,
respectively. Teammate Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs competed an abbreviated
program, tying Vaculik's top on bars, 14.800, and third on beam despite a fall
on that event. Fifth all-around went to Aisha Gerber and sixth to Emma
Willis.
Two who were expected to compete in tonight's field included Brit Rogers and
Charlotte Mackie. Rogers warmed up with the group, but wound up distressed on
the physio and scratching from the meet. Mackie warmed up with the
juniors.
Stephanie Pacitto made her comeback last night, following last year's
knee injury in Brazil. She excelled on floor, posting that event's
second best score, but struggled on the remaining events. Unfortunately, she
suffered a terrible fall onto the low bar and was unable to complete her
routine, hence the outlying 7.050 score.
Topping the senior men after day 1 are 2007 World team members Nathan
Gafuik (1st) and Ken Ikeda (2nd). Hugh Smith is in third place.
Leading the junior men after day 1 are Kevin Lytwyn (1st), Loran Anderson (2nd),
and John Hall (3rd).
Full scores can be found at Gymnastics BC: women's
AA, junior
men's day 1, senior
men's day 1.
DECEMBER 1 – O’NEILL TAKES SILVER AT TEST EVENT
Edmonton’s Brandon O’Neill took home a silver medal on floor exercise today at the Olympic Test Event in Beijing, China. O’Neill’s score of 15.80 actually tied for the highest score of the day with winner Makoto Okiguchi of Japan, with the Japanese gymnast taking the tie breaker with the higher B score (9.5 versus 9.3 for O’Neill). Germany’s Fabian Hambuechen took a close third, scoring 15.75.
Kristina Vaculik competed in the vault final today, finishing in seventh
place. Later this weekend she'll vie for medals on her best two events, uneven bars and balance beam.
(Updated: Vaculik placed eighth on both bars and beam).
For all the latest news, complete results and scores, as well as streaming video from the competition, visit the official website of the competition.
