Apollo gymnasts move up ladder

CALGARY — Two athletes from the North Bay Apollo Gymnastic Club took part in the national age-groups competition for power tumbling and have qualified for the Indo-Pacific championships in Kelowna, B.C. as members of the Canadian team.

The championships are in July.

Joshua Tessier, currently competing in the senior open national level and Samantha McParland, a provincial level 4 tumbler, were both more than excited with their results after the two-day competition.

McParland competed against the top 15 Canadian female tumblers in the 13-14 age group.

On Day 1 of the competition, hosted at the Mount Royal Phys-Ed Complex, McParland ended her two passes with a total score of 57.1, .7 above the mandatory qualifying score.

On day 2, McParland finished the meet with a high-scoring second pass for a combined total score of 58.2and ranking her fourth.

McParland ended up in fifth place, qualifying her for the Canadian team.

Tessier, who coached Samantha at the age-groups competition, had an impressive first day of tumbling.

Tessier, who competed in a field of 19 men, including current Canadian senior team members, scored a 60.90; 3.5 full points above the mandatory qualifying score.

Tessier was in seventh place after Day 1. On Day 2, he increased his level of difficulty and included two new skills including a double back flip in straight-body position, and a full-twisting double flip.

Tessier nailed the double layout (straight body flip), and scored a very high 31.4 on that competitive pass. At the end of the second day of competition, Tessier ended up in 11th, but two of the higher ranking qualifiers were chosen for the senior Team so he was bumped up to ninth place overall.

“I was so pleased with both of their performances at this age-groups meet. Not only did they compete very well, but Josh added two new impressive skills to his competitive repertoire and Samantha fit right in in her first national level meet, competing against girls 2-3 levels higher than her,” Apollo coach Dave Harris said.

“Josh and Sam represented both North Bay and Ontario extremely well in Calgary, but they’ll now have to work even harder to compete well in what will be their first International meets as competitors,” he added.

Nine countries are confirmed to attend the Indo-Pacific championships including Japan, the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and Mexico.

“The two athletes have worked very hard over the season to get to this point and they deserve this new opportunity,” Harris said.

The Apollo athletes changed their focus slightly as they competed in provincial championships this weekend in Oakville.

They were joined by six other athletes from the Apollo team, Kathleen McParland, Nathan Swain, Alison and Rachel Fung, Natalie Fraser and Stephanie Beauparlant.
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Josh Tessier and Samantha McParland of the North Bay Apollo Gymnastic Club have qualified for the Indo-Pacific championships in Kelowna, B.C. as members of the Canadian team.