Two Apollo Tumblers capture gold

Burlington - Apollo Gymnastics sent a team of eight representatives to Burlington for the second of three Provincial Cup Qualifying meets.

Ben Senior and Quinlan McParland, both age 11 competed in the Provincial 2 Men’s category against 7 other athletes, some as old as 17. Senior started with a 4th place on his compulsory pass and 5th placing on his optional pass. Senior had a good meet and ended in 5th spot all-around. McParland was able to show an impressive, high back tuck as an end-skill on his compulsory and received a silver medal for his efforts. A gold medal on his second pass clinched the first place all-around finish for him. Both Ben and Quinlan scored high enough to achieve the Provincial qualifying standard. Quinlan will move on to the Provincial Championships in mid-April and Senior will try and get his second score at the next qualifier being held in Barrie in just over a month.

Nick Entwistle, a grade 9 student at West Ferris SS, competed in a strong Provincial Level 3 category. Entwistle was the only competitor to receive a 9.0 score in any of his passes. His compulsory netted him a silver medal and a bronze was his reward for his optional pass. Overall, Entwistle scored high enough to meet the Provincial Championships qualifying standard and receive the gold medal.

13 year-old Nathan Swain was the first of 4 of Apollo’s National-level athletes to compete. Swain started the night on Friday with a nicely completed first pass registering full-difficulty. Though his second tumbling pass did not go quite as planned, Swain managed to show an impressive finals pass ending in a double twist. Nathan’s score allowed him to finish in 4th place.

Samantha McParland who also coaches at Apollo, competed in her first qualifier of the year. McParland jumped up a level this season from the Novice category last year to the National Open group. Samantha finished in 2nd place after her first pass and 3rd place overall.

The last athlete to compete was 18 year-old Chippewa SS student Seamus O’Donoughue. Seamus also moved up a level after finishing 2nd at National Championships in the Novice category last season.

In the National Open group, O’Donoughue competed a huge double pike as his end-skill on his second pass and went on to compete 2 Finals passes. O’Donoughue was just shy of meeting the score neededto attend Nationals this year in Regina, but still has 2 more opportunities to do so.

The next qualifying meet is being held by the Barrie Kempettes Gymnastics Club the weekend of February 24 & 25.

Submitted to BayToday.ca