Gymnastics Canada  – EDMONTON, AB (June 2, 2016) – Nova Scotia was the little province that could on Thursday night at the 2016 Global News Canadian Championships in Artistic and Trampoline Gymnastics as their men’s artistic gymnastics national open team captured the team title for the first time-ever over powerhouse teams from Ontario (second), and Quebec (third).

Anchored by strong performances by Kahlil Benjamin from the Halifax Alta Club, who finished in the top-3 in four out of six apparatus, including first on the vault, and Stephen Clouter, also from Halifax Alta who stands first on the high bar, and third on parallel bars – the team of gymnasts that range in age from 15 to 26 were overjoyed with their victory, and are primed for apparatus finals on Saturday.

“These guys worked so hard and came together so well,” said Vaughn Arthur, one of the team coaches and a coach at Halifax Alta. “The guys were motivated from last year when they came third, but today, we didn’t really know what the other teams were doing, but we thought they might have a chance — but we didn’t know we would win!”

Athletes from Ontario and Quebec did dominate in the novice men’s artistic gymnastics category, with Félix Dolci of Quebec standing first in the all-around standings with a score of 127.030, followed by Yannis Chronopoulos of Ontario in second with 120.060 points, and Olivier Menzies-Thibault in third with 115.880 points. All three advance to the finals which take place Friday afternoon.

In the junior men’s artistic gymnastics category, it was William Émard from Quebec who defended his all-around title from last year with a score of 120.560 over Jesse Tyndall of Saskatchewan in second with 118.080 points, and Anthony Tawfik of Ontario in third with 117.810 points.

“I’m just really happy to be here. I was not supposed to be competing – I had surgery two months ago. Tonight, I think I just got a little bit lucky,” said Émard who had to take a month off to recover from a surgery to his knee that only left him with three weeks to prepare for this competition, and who has advanced to the finals on Saturday in five out of the six apparatus for men.

It was a busy day of preliminary rounds in trampoline gymnastics with Rio Olympics-bound athletes Rosie MacLennan and Jason Burnett of Toronto both easily advancing to the senior finals on Friday night.

“My first routine went really well, I had a high time of flight, and I did a Miller (triple-twisting double-back) at the end which is the first time in two years I’ve been able to do that,” said MacLennan, who, along with Burnett will be heading to two World Cup competitions in Europe this month in preparation for the Olympic Games in August. “My second routine was a little bit on the rough side, but I was able to pull it back at the end, so hopefully tomorrow is a little bit better.”

Jon Schwaiger of Burlington, ON continued on his path towards trying to tie former teammate Denis Vachon’s record of five Canadian titles in a row with his performance in men’s senior tumbling which saw him easily advance with a score of 73.000. He also advanced in men’s senior double mini-trampoline behind Kyle Carragher of Port Coquitlam, BC who sits first with a score of 72.300.

Quinn Skrupa from Brandon, MB had a good night in the women’s artistic gymnastics novice category, putting in top performances on the uneven bars and the balance beam to finish on top of the all-around standings with 57.925 points, followed by Emma Spence of Ontario in second with 57.125 points, and Jenna Sartoretto in third with 56.950 points. The novice finals take place Saturday morning.

Friday is a big day of competition with senior finals in women’s and men’s artistic gymnastics, and men’s and women’s trampoline, tumbling, and double mini-trampoline in the evening, and both finals and preliminary rounds in several disciplines for the younger gymnasts.

For full results, please visit: http://bit.ly/CDNgymresults

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First established in 1969, Gymnastics Canada is the national governing body for the sport of gymnastics in Canada. Gymnastics Canada works closely with the twelve Provincial Federations and the 700 local clubs to provide a broad range of programs and services to meet the needs of all participants. From athlete development, to coaching and judging education, Gymnastics Canada sets the operating standards and practices for the sport in Canada. Our mandate is to promote and provide positive and diverse gymnastics experience through the delivery of quality and safe gymnastics programming. Visit www.gymcan.org for more information, or follow us @CDNgymnastics.

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