The Williams Lake Gymnastics Club sprung its way to Abbotsford for the 2014 Twisters Invitational — the largest meet of the competitive gymnastics team’s season.
New WLGC head coach Chelsea Bailey, a former gymnast who moved to Williams Lake from Vancouver Island, said everyone competed well.
“It was awesome,” Bailey said. “It was nice to get down to the Coast and to see what the gymnasts are like there, so it was great. It’s a bigger city, and you get the best of the best down there.”
Local gymnasts Gabrielle Gracia, Chloe Lutters, Ashia Chutskoff, Katie Chipman, Alyssia Suderman, Thea Lutters and Andrew Bettles competed at the meet, held from April 3-6 at the Twisters Gymnastics Club.
Bettles, who competed in the men’s level 3 division, finished third all-around — posting a first-place result on horizontal bars, a second-place finish on pommel horse, and third-place finishes in rings and parallel bars.
Thea, in the provincial 2 argo category, nabbed her best result on vault, scoring 12.1 out of 13 points, finishing ninth in the event in a tough division.
“That’s the best score I’ve ever got on vault at a meet,” Thea said, noting it is her first year competing at the level 2 division.
Chipman, in her first year of competitive gymnastics, finished second all around in the provincial 1 novice division. Chipman tied for second on vault, finished second on bars, tied for third on floor and took fourth on beam. Suderman, also competing in the provincial 1 novice division, placed fifth all around.
“I stuck a back vault on beam I haven’t been able to do for three months,” Chipman said.
Chloe, in the provincial 1 tyro division, vaulted to a sixth-place all around finish. Chloe’s best results came in vault (11.9 for second place) and on bars (11.85 for third place).
Ashia, meanwhile, said her floor routine was one of the best she’s performed. She scored a 9.7 points competing in the provincial 1 tyro division.
In the provincial 1 argo category, Gabrielle tied for seventh place in vault, competing in a large field of gymnasts to score 11.5 points.
The WLGC has two more competitions left the season — the next coming up May 4-5 at the Prince George Gymnastics Club.