Colbey Simunac won an all-around bronze medal at the B.C. high school gymnastics championships, held last weekend in Burnaby.
Simunac competed in the Level 3 boys category. In his individual events, he placed in silver-medal position on vault and pommel horse, earned bronze on parallel bars and high bar and was fourth on the floor exercise and rings.
In Level 5 girls, Alia Wilson ended up one spot off the podium in the all-around standings. On the way to her fourth-overall result, Wilson was golden on the uneven bars and took a silver medal on the vault. As well, she finished 10th on balance beam and 12th on the floor.
Six other local gymnasts -Jillian Hepburn, Kayla Hanson, Mary Kate Barwise, Jaymie Hinks, Dallyn Long and Liam O'Beirne - gave medal-winning performances in individual disciplines. Hepburn (Level 1 junior girls) won a gold medal on the floor exercise, Hanson (Level 3 girls) was awarded a bronze on beam, Barwise (Level 4 girls) was golden on the vault, Hinks (Level 4 girls) secured silver medals on the vault and balance beam, Long (Level 4 girls) picked up a bronze medal on vault and O'Beirne (Level 1 boys) grabbed a gold medal on floor exercise.
In the team competition, Duchess Park topped the boys standings, while College Heights placed third in the girls division. Also, Duchess was third in total points (boys and girls combined).
Next year's high school provincials will be held in Prince George.
Medal haul for HJA
Hart Judo Academy members wore a path to the medal podium.
At the Edmonton International, held last weekend at West Edmonton Mall, athletes from the local club battled to eight gold medals, two silver medals and four bronze. Gold-medalists were Aria Greenwood (Under-10 girls), Halle Forgues (U10 girls), Joshua Greenwood (U10 boys), Ethan Leithead (U10 boys), Linus Frizzell (U12 boys), Halle Gould (U12 girls), Kristian Knudsgaard (U12 boys) and Ty Gould (U12 boys).
Hannah Gould (U16 girls under-48-kilograms) and Doug Gould (Veterans under-90kg) both fought to silver medals, while Grace Northrop, Sofia Ribeiro, Matthias Schenk and Ioan Frizzell won bronze medals in their categories.
Meanwhile, HJA product Lavanna Laass wore Team Canada colours in Portugal on Sunday. In her first international event, she posted a 1-2 record. Laass is now at a training camp in Portugal and will follow that up with tournaments and camps in Germany and Scotland.
The Prince George Judo Club was also represented at the Edmonton International. PGJC members Fallon Jones (U12 girls), Tami Goto (U16 girls under-44kg) and Lisa Russell (U21 women under-52kg) all brought home gold medals, while Nevada Jones (U10 girls) and Elias Dewar (U12 boys) finished with silver medals. Bronze medals went to Taylor Schaus (U18 men under-55kg) and Ryan Russell (U18 men under-60kg).
The Edmonton International doubled as the final selection tournament for Team B.C. Those who make the provincial team will compete at nationals in Calgary in May.
The annual Prince George Open judo tournament is scheduled for April 23 at the Northern Sport Centre.
