OkillOAKVILLESMUSIC STOREwww.gearmusic.netSports324 Kerr St.905-339-3515SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2011 33Nine OGC athletes golden at trampoline/tumbling provincialsBy Herb Garbuttlooked cooler. OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFFOakville earned another one-two finish in the womens national is career started with anovice, with Savannah Wepf and backflip into a pile of leavesKezia Allen taking gold and silver Hat the encouragement of arespectively. Allen led after the pre-group of friends.liminaries after the posting the When he pulled off the stunt,divisions top score, 29.000, on her Michael Chaves thought maybe hefirst pass but Wepf delivered two had a talent for this sort of thing.strong passes in the final to over-He began competing in artistictake her teammate.gymnastics but didnt enjoy all of Dakota Treleaven was a model of the various disciplines.consistency, scoring 57.500 on her I didnt really like bars andtwo passes in preliminaries and rings, he said. I liked flipping.then matching that score in the That was my favourite thing.final to take the gold in the novice So Chaves made the switch tonational womens 15-and-over. She tumbling three years ago and haswould also add a silver medal in quickly climbed the ranks. Sunday,double mini trampoline, placing Chaves claimed the Ontario youthsecond in the womens national national title at the Ontarionovice 15-and-over division.Trampoline and TumblingFour trampoline winnersChampionships and is already look-ing forward to the day he makes theDezember Treleaven was fifth in final leap to the senior division totumbling but she would earn a gold compete against the countrysmedal on trampoline. She earned best.the divisions highest score (29.500) Hes well aware of what it willon her final routine to win the take to get there. Hes alreadywomens provincial C 15-and-over studying videos of three-timetitle.national champion Alex Seifert.Connie Robinson won the wom-I like practicing stuff thatsens provincial C 9-10 tumbling harder than the level Im at, hegold. Scoring a 29.100 on her final said. Its getting exciting. Impass took her from third to first as always on YouTube checking thingsshe won the title by less than half a out.point. Elizabeth Karam was Chaves, who just turned 16 lastfourth.month, had the opportunity toValeria Granda made a similar compete against Seifert at Elitejump from third to first on her final Canada in April and got a boost of pass to win the womens provincial confidence with a fifth-place finishB 13-14 division title. against senior national team mem-Erik Polasek also claimed gold bers, many of them in their 20s.by taking first in the mens provin-cial B 15-and-over division.No pressure for MeehanMICHAEL IVANIN / OAKVILLE BEAVEROakville also had four silver KICK UP YOUR HEELS:Michael Chaves performs his tumbling routine during last weekend's Ontario Trampoline Chaves was one of nine goldmedalists in tumbling, including a and Tumbling Championships at the Oakville Gymnastics Club. Chaves won the Ontario youth national division title to medalists for the host Oakvillepair who earned their first medals become one of nine OGC athletes to earn gold at the meet.Gymnastics Club, includingof the season. Kiana Ng had fin-thJonathan Meehan, who has alreadyished between fourth and 12at reached the level Chaves is strivingthe four Ontario Cups during the sistent but moving up and doing novice national title on the week-MacKinnon was the divisionsfor. In fact, Meehan is the onlyseason and Abigail Youngberg the harder skills thats expected.end.only competitor to crack thethtumbler at the national level inplaced between eighth and 12. Although his passes didnt go as MacKinnon said missing a week 30-point mark, doing so on all fourOntario, which took off some of theHowever, both were on the podium well as he liked, Meehan isn't rul-of training before provincials wor-of his passes. Asked if his perfor-pressure.at provincials.ing out adding more difficulty for ried him a little but he came mance gave him confidence head-Without having to worry tooNg took second place in the nationals.through to take the gold.ing to the Canadian championshipsmuch about scores and placings,womens provincial B 15-and-over Theres a lot more motivation Its really rewarding, he said.at the end of the month inMeehan used provincials as prepa-division. Youngberg was second in doing harder passes, he said. Teammate Jack McGarr also Charlottetown, MacKinnon said,ration for nationals. Though hethe womens provincial C 11-12 Theres always that next move. If moved up the podium to earn the Tons. Im really looking forward totook a hard fall on his final pass, hedivision while teammate Naomi you dont have that motivation to silver medal.nationals.got up smiling.Smith was fifth, just one-tenth of a get there, its difficult to move on.Some of the guys have harder McGarr topped 29 points onIts been a bit of a roller coast-point out of third.Luke MacKinnon moved up at passes, said coach Don Holmes. three of his four passes. Likeer, he said of his first year at theI think there was no pressure the provincials. After finishing sec-But its about landing on your feet Chaves, he switched from artisticSee OGC, page 35senior level. I havent been as con-ond at each qualifier, he took the at the end of the day.gymnastics because tumbling