North Bay gymnast Erin Grigg will be inducted into the North Bay Sports Hall of Fame this May.
“Erin Grigg has won more titles, awards, and accolades than any other North Bay female gymnast,” stated Bill Jacko, Chair of the North Bay Sports Hall of Fame
“She is the first local gymnast to receive a full scholarship to a U.S. University and to claim podium finishes at two Canadian Championships. She will be among those honoured at the NBSHF’s 39th Induction and Awards Dinner on May 4 at the Davedi Club.”
Born in Toronto, Erin and her family moved to North Bay when she was seven years old. She began competing in Provincial Stream gymnastics at the age of 9 and when she was 15 (2003) she won her first All-Around Provincial championship, just a month after having a cast on her foot removed. Shortly after that, she became the first Bayite to win an Eastern Canadian Championship. By 2004 she had ‘jumped’ two levels and entered the National Stream program becoming, along with her sister Robyn, the first women’s Artistic gymnasts from North Bay to ever accomplish National Level status.
In 2004, Grigg became the first local female gymnast to qualify for Nationals where she won the bronze medal in vault and was a member of the gold medal-winning Ontario team. Earlier that year, after being named to the Ontario team, she competed in an International event in Arizona and won the gold in vault and gold with Team Ontario.
In 2005, she was again named to the Ontario team which took gold in International competition in Texas while Erin took individual silver in vault and bronze in uneven bars. That same year she captured silver in vault at the Friendship Classic in Pennsylvania against a field that included athletes from around the world.
The following year Erin again competed at Nationals, helping Ontario to a team bronze and taking an individual bronze in the vault where she also won the Gymnastics Canada Special Award for her uneven bar routine. She also competed with the Ontario touring team at Las Vegas where she won silver medals in both vault and floor exercises.
Her career with North Bay Gymtrix and team Ontario attracted the attention of three American Universities and she accepted a full four-year scholarship at Eastern Michigan (EMU) where she was a solid performer from 2006 to 2010 when she graduated with a BSc in Exercise Science. In the 2007 season, she won the vault in two events and had a pair of top-five finishes on the bars. In 2008 she won six individual event titles and an all-around first as well as placing in the top six in vault eight times; she also recorded seven top ten on the bars, five on the beam and six in floor exercise. The 2009 season saw Erin win Mid-American Conference Female Scholar of the Week on two occasions as well as a place in the top 25 in every MAC
gymnastic event and place 4th all-around which qualified her for regional competition. She also earned Academic All-MAC honours. 2010 was her final season at EMU and she earned All-MAC Academic honours for a 2nd time while winning her 3rd MAC Female Scholar of the Week award. She also earned MAC Gymnast of the Week honours for the 1st time after leading EMU to a win over Western Michigan.
After graduating from EMU she attended Western in London where she obtained a Masters in Occupational Therapy; she is now a Registered Occupational Therapist and is employed at the North Bay Regional Health Centre. During her competitive career, she took the time to coach hundreds of aspiring young gymnasts.
The Inductees and Award winners will be honoured at the 39th Annual North Bay Sports Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Dinner on Saturday, May 4 at the Davedi Club on Airport Road. Tickets are available from the following Executive Members: Karen Cobb (705-493-7578), Mary McTavish (705-497-8111) or Tom Nodwell (705-474-7108).
