McParland earns three silver medals (with photos)

The North Bay Apollo Gymnastics Club sent five power tumblers to compete in the third Ontario Provincial Cup qualifying meet in St. Catharines and had very good results, with four top six finishes and three medals.

In the Provincial 1 category, Candice Healy competed in her first ever competition and had two decent passes, finishing in 12th place.

Her first pass was scored in the mid eighths for a good showing.

Natalie Fraser had two exceptional passes and earned a bronze medal for her second tumbling pass.

Fraser ended up in fourth overall in a field of 14 athletes from around the province.

Kathleen McParland had another excellent weekend and finished the day with three silver medals.

Her first and second passes showed good strength and technique, enabling her to end up in second place all-around. Both Fraser and McParland ended up with total scores above 51.9 for the second time this year which means that both will represent Apollo and Northern Ontario at the provincial championships in Oakville in April.

In the Provincial 2 category, Stephanie Beauparlant had a silver medal for her first pass of the day.

Her second pass, the optional one, placed her fourth in a field of 14, putting her in third all-around with a bronze medal finish.

Beauparlant, who had already qualified to go to provincials by scoring above 52.7 in her first two meets of the year, again surpassed the total by almost two full points to ensure her spot at the provincials.

Josh Tessier, the provincial tumbling coach at Apollo, was happy with his athletes competitions.

“The girls looked great this weekend. Their results showed just how much they’ve improved, even since the beginning of the season. I am impressed with how much talent we’ve got coming up through the ranks from our younger athletes. The next few years will be interesting,” he said.

Tessier competed in the national senior open category.

He had already met the total score of 54.9 at a previous meet to attend the national championships in Toronto, but improved once again on his score, finishing up with a total of 61.1 points.

He finished three good quality passes with no major breaks and a silver medal, just .2 out of first place.

“Josh looked great this meet, but I’m very happy with all of our athletes”, Dave Harris, head coach at Apollo Gymnastics, said. “We have consistently had our athletes finishing in the top six so we know we’re doing something right. The athletes have been working hard and other athletes and coaches from around the province are definitely noting the quality of our program.”

Tessier, in addition to Samantha McParland, who did not compete on the weekend due to illness, are both preparing for a much larger challenges Easter weekend in April.

Both will travel to Calgary to take part in the national age-groups competition, which acts as a qualifying meet to attend the Indo-Pacific Cup in British Columbia.

“They will be competing against the best age-group tumblers from all over Canada for a spot on the Canadian delegation to this international meet,” Harris said.

“Their focus now is to surpass my expectations and add some extra difficulty to their passes. I want them to shine at the trials meet, just like they have been doing all year,” he added.

“The athletes have had a great start to this season and both Josh and I are excited to see what will happen over the next few months,” Harris said.
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PHOTO Kathleen McParland earned three silver medals at the third Ontario Provincial Cup trampoline and tumbling qualifying meet in St. Catharines. Her coach Josh Tessier, the provincial tumbling coach at Apollo, is on the right.