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Rubber bones and determination

Young gymnast makes dent on provincial scene after quick recovery from skiing injury
gymnast
Eleven-year-old Mariana Plata works on the uneven bars at the Prince George Gymnastics Club. – Citizen photo by James Doyle

As a competitive gymnast, Mariana Plata routinely makes perilous moves.

She takes flying leaps at the vault running at full speed, swings like a monkey on the uneven bars and fearlessly cartwheels into handstands on a 10-centimetre-wide balance beam. To do that requires precision, strength and large degree of flexibility.

The 11-year-old Prince George Gymnastics Club member had no idea how flexible she was until she fell on her shoulder coming down a hill while cross-country skiing with her Grade 5 class at Ecole Lac des Bois a few months ago at Otway Nordic Centre.

Plata's collarbone took the brunt of the impact but it didn't break.

It bent.

The clavicle bone was cracked but not displaced and that meant her recovery time was significantly reduced and six weeks later she was back in the swing of things, training at the Prince George Gymnastics Centre.

"The doctor told me as a kid you're really flexible so it sort of bent instead of breaking," said Plata. "I was out for about a month. There's still a big bump and I can scare my friends with it. When I got it, I felt like my arm was falling off. The doctor said I might have that bump for two years."

The good news was it healed just in time so she could compete in one of the biggest meets of the season in Langley. Plata went down to the Christy Fraser Memorial Invitational meet, April 20-22, and placed first in uneven bars, third on the beam, sixth in floor exercise and ninth in vault to finish fourth overall in the Junior Olympic Level 4 class.

"I was glad I did that because I only had two weeks before Langley to train and I still couldn't do some of the skills because I just came back from hurting myself," she said.

"I like bars and I also enjoy floor because I get to express myself with facial expressions. In floor I love being in the spotlight with a bunch of people watching me. I don't get nervous. When I try my best I usually do well and I am happy with my results. Beside my dresser I have all my medals there."

Hinks says Plata is very determined and confident in her abilities, always bringing a sportsmanlike attitude to the gym, and maintains a positive attitude even when she falters. She trains three times a week for four hours each session and sometimes her gymnastics commitments mean she has to miss school.

"I have to ask for days off just because there's a fun event happening but it's worth it," Plata said. "I have more fun here than I would at school."

The Ogopogo Invitational meet in Kelowna June 8-10 will mark the end of the season for Plata but she intends to keep coming to the gym throughout the summer months to brush up on her technique so she can move up to JO 5 next season.

"I have two skills I need and I'm pretty close to getting the two other ones," she said. "On Tuesday I got my flyaway (back-flip off the bar) into the sponge pit and I hope to be doing that on the mat. I have my back walkover on the beam. I would say my beam is my worst event but I got first in Prince George (at the zone championship)."

Plata loves watching Alia Wilson, the club's top JO 10 gymnast, practicing her routines at the club. Wilson, 15, will be an alternate for Team B.C. at the Canadian championships, May 22-27 in Waterloo, Ont. She placed sixth in the all-around standings at the Western Canadian championships in Spruce Grove, Alta., April 26-29

"She has really good form in everything," said Plata. "She trains while we train too. She's really good, and impressive."

Plata's clubmates Kaitlyn Muir and Mataya Auxi were also crowned all-around champions at the Prince George Invitational and the Zone 8 championships at the Gymnastics Centre at Exhibition Park. The double meet drew 242 athletes - the most ever in the club's history - and included competitive and recreational gymnasts from Prince George, Terrace, Kitimat, Smithers, Williams Lake, Quesnel, Fort St. John and Dawson Creek.

Rhiana Palfy, 19, and Anna MacDonald, 18, will represent the Prince George Gymnastics Club at the Canadian trampoline championships July 5-8 in Lethbridge, Alta.

After years of recreational gymnastics, Plata made a smooth transition to the competitive stream last summer. Inspired by watching American gymnast Simone Biles win four gold and one bronze medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016, Plata was invited by her best friend, Lilliana (Lilly) Sullivan, to watch her compete at a meet in Quesnel.

"I thought it was cool and I wanted to do that too," said Plata. "I started in Level 2 Rec and I advanced pretty quickly and I had my silver badge when I got asked to join competitive.

"In my opinion, gymnastics is the best sport and more people should get into it and they could enjoy it like I do."

Plata started off in January winning the Judges Cup event in Prince George, then took the all-around JO 4 title at the Gold Pan Invitational inter-club meet in Quesnel in February. Two weekends ago, competing in her home gym, she captured the Prince George Invitational and Zone 8 titles.

Plata had to demonstrate to her coaches two weeks before the Langley meet that she could execute all her routines and her rapid recovery time from her injury just barely allowed that.

"She's done very well for her first year jumping right into the competitive program after three or four years in the recreation program," said PGGC coach Jaymie Hinks. "She's very flexible and has good presentation in all her events. Her star event is probably bars. She has great big swings and she's super-clean with straight legs and pointed toes. She's just an overall good performer and it's almost like it comes natural to her. She got all her skills super-quick for the routine she has now. By September she was learning her routines and she killed it this year."

-- see KELOWNA, page 10