Leading up to this weekend’s provincial artistic gymnastics championships, members of the Lion’s Pride club in Langford have been busy racking up the medals at regional competitions around the Lower Mainland.
Most recently, club athletes competed at a meet in Port Moody. Reese Wheeldon earned second in the all-around for the Junior Olympic 8 category.
Along the way she captured top spot on the balance beam with a mark of 9.375, and added a third on vault with a score of 9.05. She placed fourth in her other two events, floor exercise and uneven bars.
Teammate Hannah Iles also managed a top-three finish in the all-around, taking third in JO7 after posting her best marks in bars (fourth, 8.85) and beam (fifth, 9.05). Maddie Sim wound up eighth overall in JO7, with a best mark of 9.0 on bars, good for fourth spot.
At Abbotsford last month, Wheeldon grabbed the gold medal in the all-around after scoring first on floor (9.475) and bars (8.85), second in beam and third on the vault.
Teammate Paris Leigh was not far back in third place in JO8 all-around, having scored first-place marks on vault (9.025) and bars (8.85) and a third on floor.
In JO7, Iles placed second all-around, boosted by a first on the vault (9.275) and second-place marks on floor and beam.
Brooklyn Massie finished eighth all-around in JO7, posting her best mark on the vault, (third, 8.875).
Top finishers for Lion’s Pride at the previous competition last month in Surrey were Iles, who was first all-around in JO7, propelled by a first on bars (9.225); Leigh, second JO8 (first on bars, 8.55; third on vault and beam); and Massie, 10th all-around in JO7.
The provincial championships run April 15 to 17 at the Langley Events Centre.
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