KAMLOOPS, B.C. -- Comeback complete.
Kristina Vaculik didn't let a fall on her balance beam dismount deter her from winning her second national title Thursday night at the Tournamant Capital Centre at Thompson Rivers University.
Vaculik, who was named the 2008 Olympic alternate after a lengthy selection process, did not compete in 2009, opting to rehab an elbow injury that required surgery.
The Ontario gymnast, second overall after Tuesday's preliminary round, was propelled by her 14.1 on uneven bars, the highest score of the evening on that event. Even though she overrotated her double pike dismount on balance beam and rolled onto her back, Vaculik was the only athlete to score in the top three on each event.
Vaculik was second on vault with third-place finisher Dominique Pegg (14.1) and second in her own right on floor (14.1) where she showed exceptional maturity and lovely choreography (14.1). Even with the miss on beam, she was third of all competitors (13.65).
"I thought I did really well," Pegg said. "I just went and tried to do what I did in the gym every day, not thinking about the placings or anything, trying to hit and have fun."
Cambridge Kips gymnast Madeline Gardiner, who led the competition after the first night, wound up in a hole after a 13.6 on her first event, vault. Gardiner landed a clean Yurchenko full but received only the 12th best score on the event (13.6). She fared better on bars (13.8), beam (13.85) -- where she fought not to fall after a change leg side aerial gone awry -- and floor (13.85) and finished second, the only gymnast in the top three not to have a fall.
First-year senior Jessica Savona, who kept her fourth place finish from the qualifying round, hit all four of her routines and finished with a bang on floor, moonwalking to a cut of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" and wowing the crowd with her sharp tumbling passes, including an Arabian double front, a 1.5 twist through to a double twist and a well-landed double pike (13.6).
Savona also had the highest score of the night on balance beam (13.95), where she confidently nailed a back handspring, layout to two feet and a double pike dismount.
Vaculik, who has signed with Stanford University for the 2011 NCAA season, has expressed interest in trying to help the Canadian women qualify a team to the 2012 Olympics, something that will happen at the 2011 World Championships. Canada must be among the top 12 teams to qualify for the Olympic Games.
Vaculik was a member of the 2007 World team that finished 13th and missed out on qualifications. The disappointment has motivated her to continue, she said. As has her success.
Quebec gymnasts Bianca Dancose-Giambattisto and Cynthia Lemieux-Guillementte finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
2008 Olympian Nansy Damianova, who is headed to Utah next season, had a rough evening, falling several times on balance beam and putting her hands down on her double front bars dismount. She finished tied for 11th.
Defending Canadian champion Sydney Sawa, 14th, also suffered several errors, including two falls on balance beam. Sawa will attend UCLA in the fall.
British Columbia native Charlotte Mackie, who was rushed to the hospital Tuesday night after suffering severe stomach pains right before the competition, stood with her Canadian teammates during the all-around awards ceremony. Mackie was suspected of having ruptured her appendix, but was diagnosed with a different illness, according to Gymnastics Canada officials.
In the junior division, preliminary all-around leader Sabrina Gill looked steady and confident on beam during the first rotation until her double tuck dismount, which she overrotated and fell on in much the same manner as Vaculik did two rotations later. She scored 13.25, finishing seventh on the event.
Gill carried on, finishing her night with a 14.7 on bars, the highest bars score of any competitor, junior or senior, to wrap up her first Canadian junior title, ahead of Oakville Gymnastics teammate Mikaela Gerber and fellow Ontario gymnast Anna Gamelo.
"It's awesome, I wasn't even expecting it," Gill said. "After I fell on beam I was like, 'I don't know if I'm going to have a shot at this,' but I came back strong and positive and I won the meet."
After her fall on beam, Gill was approached by Canadian national team coach Vladimir Lashin, who advised her "don't try to do a triple back instead of a double," Gill said.
"He wasn't too mad, which was a good thing," she concluded.
Briannah Tseng, second after the preliminary round, recorded the highest vault score of the evening (14.25) for her 1.5 twisting Yurchenko but finished seventh overall after multiple errors on uneven bars (11.45) and a large wobble on balance beam (12.65).
Oakville's Bianca Jordaan was the top scoring gymnast on floor (14.4) for a superclean routine that included a well-performed full-twisting double back, a double twist and a 2.5 twist (14.4). Tiny Paraskevi Babalis, 13th overall, had the highest score on beam (14.25).
Scores from the first day of competition were not counted toward the final total in either of the women's meets.
Men: Pacific Rim all-around champion Nathan Gafuik easily won the Canadian men's title over newcomers Jackson Payne and Kevin Lytwyn, who tied for third with veteran Hugh Smith.
Gafuik, who was the heavy favorite to win the title, had the highest scores on pommel horse (14.5), vault (16.2) and high bar (15.0), where he nailed a Kolman (full-twisting double back over the bar.) Lytwyn, from Burlington, Ontario, posted top scores on floor (15.1) and rings (14.85).
"It's pretty cool. I also won Elite Canada this year, so it was nice to win both national championships," Gafuik said. "I'm looking forward to a good summer and hopefully a good World Championships in October."
Veteran Ken Ikeda, 28, was the best on parallel bars (14.65). Jayd Lukenchuk finished fourth.
The 21-man men's field was missing several Canadian team veterans, including defending Canadian champion Casey Sandy and Brandon O'Neill, both of whom are out with leg injuries.
"On the surface it looks like we're hurting a little bit, but if you dig in a little bit I think we'll be just as strong as we were before," Gafuik said of the men's field in Kamloops. "As soon as [O'Neill and Sandy, as well as juniors Jaylan Birl and Ian Galvin] come on to a six-man team, there we are again."
Yemen's Nashwan Al-Hazari, a guest competitor here, took 18th overall and was 11th on floor exercise.
Senior women's all-around finals:
1. Kristina Vaculik (Gemini), 55.95
2. Madeline Gardiner (Cambridge Kips), 55.1
3. Dominique Pegg (Bluewater), 54.8
4. Jessica Savona (Oakville), 54.65
5. Bianca Dancose Giambattisto (Gym-Richelieu), 53.05
6. Cynthia Lemieux (Gym-Richelieu), 52.4
7. Coralie Leblond-Chartard (Gymnix), 52.15
8. Carrina Lo Bello (Gemini), 51.8
9. Catherine Dion (Gymelites), 51.4
10. Kristin Klarenbach (Champions), 51.0
Junior women's all-around finals:
1. Sabrina Gill (Oakville), 56.45
2. Mikaela Gerber (Oakville), 54.55
3. Anna Gamelo (Futures), 53.2
4T. Shae Zamardi (Omega), 53.0
4T. Natalie Vaculik (Gemini), 53.0
6. Bianca Jordaan (Oakville), 52.8
7. Briannah Tseng (Omega), 52.5
8. Taylor Ricci (Flicka), 52.3
9. Kaitlyn Hofland (Futures), 52.25
10. Silvia Colussi-Pelaez (Oakville), 51.6
Senior men's all-around finals:
1. Nathan Gafuik (University of Calgary), 89.55
2. Jackson Payne (Capital City), 84.35
3T. Kevin Lytwyn (Burlington BGs), 84.05
3T. Hugh Smith (Halifax ALTA), 84.05
5. Jayd Lukenchuk (Taiso), 82.7
6. Ken Ikeda (BC Twisters), 81.95
7. Jason Scott (Richmond), 79.8
8. William Albert (Mississauga), 77.9
9. Scott Chandler (Island Gym), 76.9
10. Liam Hawkins (Halifax ALTA), 76.4
Related: Canadian photographer Grace Chiu has kindly provided the photo gallery below. Click through for snaps from the women's preliminary competition, and please visit Grace's website (that's www.graceclick.ca) for more.
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