Kristina Vaculik, whose gymnastics career has already included an Olympic alternate berth and a year of NCAA gymnastics, solidified herself as one of the frontrunners for the 2012 Canadian Olympic team by winning Elite Canada Friday evening in Mississauga, Ont.
The top four spots in the all-around were dominated by gymnasts who helped Canada qualify a full team to this summer's Olympics last month at the London Test event. Brittany Rogers, sidelined by a broken foot in 2010, appears to be peaking at the right time. Rogers, a vault finalist at the 2009 World Championships, competed all four events and finished second all-around (55.15 to Vaculik's 56.35).
First year senior Victoria Moors was third after a 13.05 on beam, while 2011 Canadian champion Madeline Gardiner, the team tablesetter at the London Test Event and Moors's teammate at Dynamo Gymnastics, finished fourth (54.65).
"“It felt great and it was a lot of fun,” Vaculik said in a Gymnastics Canada press release after the event. “After the Olympic qualification event, I got right back to work in training because I want to keep on improving. It’s a very exciting time.”
The fab foursome dominated the individual event finals qualification as well. Moors had the highest score on floor (14.3). Rogers was best on vault (14.5 for a double-twisting Yurchenko) and bars (14.3). Vaculik had the top score on beam (14.65).
First-year seniors Kaitlyn Hofland and Stefanie Merkle finished fifth and sixth, respectively, followed by Mikaela Gerber and Bianca Dancose-Giambattisto. All qualified to at least two event finals Sunday night.
Talia Chiarelli, who competed for Canada at the 2011 Pan American Games and Test Event, competed a watered down vault, as well as bars and beam, but did not make any event final.
Overall, beam seemed to be the weakest event for team Canada, with only two gymnasts cracking 14.0. The Canadians as a whole were probably strongest on vault and floor.
Without a full team qualified to the 2012 Olympics, the men's competition at Elite Canada lacked full arounds from many of the big names in Canadian gymnastics, including Nathan Gafuik (who competed two events and still finished first on parallel bars with 14.7), allowing the younger generation to begin making their mark as Canada regroups for 2016.
In Ontario, 2010 Youth Olympic Games competitor Robert Watson won the all-around (84.1), bolstered by having the top score on floor (15.2). He was followed by Anderson Loran (83.85), who had the best mark of the day on high bar (14.05) and veteran Hugh Smith (83.15).
2011 Canadian champion Jackson Payne, likely to be named Canada's representative to the 2012 Olympics, competed three events and won the qualifying round on pommel horse (14.95). Other top event qualifiers were Smith (15.75 on vault) and the impressively powerful Scott Morgan on rings (15.25).
Eleven-year-old sensation Shallon Olsen dominated the junior women's division. Zachary Clay won the junior men's title, while Matthew Halickman finished first in the Tyro men's division and Ryan Oehrlein did the same in Argo. Oleksandra Yermolchuk took first place in the women's division.
Related: Full results, courtesy of Gym Score Depot, are here (women's) and here (men's).
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