KAMLOOPS, B.C. -- All-around champions Kristina Vaculik and Nathan Gafuik dominated event finals on the last day of competition at the Canadian national championships at Thompson Rivers University.
Together, Vaculik and Gafiuk won seven of the 10 titles up for grabs Saturday in Kamloops. Vaculik was the top scorer on vault (14.0 for a full-twisting Yurchenko and a well done Omelianchik), bars (14.05) and beam (14.2), also finished second on floor (13.95).
Bluewater Gymnastics's Dominique Pegg was the only gymnast to best Vaculik Saturday, nailing her full twisting double back second pass and shimmying her way to a 14.1. Utah-bound Olympian Nansy Damianova finished third on floor, earning her only medal of the championship after sticking her opening tumbling pass (double back) and also performing a clean double pike (13.65).
Quebec's Bianca Dancose Giambattisto finished with bronze on her marquee event, uneven bars (13.9) and also tied newcomer Jessica Savona for third on beam (13.85). Pegg hit her beam routine, including standing Arabian front (wobble) and double tuck dismount for the silver (14.0).
2009 Canadian champion Sydney Sawa, who had mistakes on beam and bars during both nights of competition, threw a double layout on floor exercise but landed low and stepped out of bounds. Sawa, who will attend UCLA next season, finished fourth (13.5).
Gafuik, who won Thursday's all-around by a runaway 5.2 points, added golds on men's floor exercise (15.15), vault (16.05), parallel bars (14.55) and high bar (14.6). He did not compete on pommel horse and withdrew from the still rings final before event finals began.
Olympic veteran Ken Ikeda showed the cleanest routine on pommel horse (14.65), where he was followed by juniors Jaylan Birl (13.65) and Tariq Dowers (13.4). Ikeda, a smooth swinger on parallel bars as well, finished third on that event (14.4), trailing Gafuik and Jackson Payne (14.5), who also won silver on high bar (14.4).
Kevin Lytwyn, who tied for third all-around with Nova Scotia's Hugh Smith two nights ago, upgraded his high bar routine to include a Kolman (full-twisting double back over the bar) to tie Payne for the second. He won rings in his own right (14.5), ahead of junior Robert Watson (13.9) and Dowers (13.85).
Saskatchewan's Jayd Lukenchuk, fifth all-around, landed a very clean double twisting Yurchenko (15.8) for second on vault, followed by Birl, who performed the same vault (15.5).
In the junior women's division, all-around champion Sabrina Gill won a second Canadian title on uneven bars (14.5) and also gained a silver on beam (14.4) and bronze on floor (14.35). Briannah Tseng, one of only two women to throw a 1.5 twisting Yurchenko, won vault (14.4 average) and finished second on floor, where she closed her routine to fast-paced latin music with a stuck full-twisting double pike (14.65).
Oakville, Ont.'s Bianca Jordaan captured her first junior national title on floor (14.85) and also finished second on vault (14.025 average), topping off her clean Yurchenko layout with a beautifully executed handspring double pike.
Nova Scotia's Ellie Black threw an unusual beam dismount -- a double twisting front layout -- to clinch the junior beam title (14.5) ahead of Gymnix's Paraskevi Babalis, who showed a switch leap, back tuck, back tuck combination and a crisp front pike somie (13.8).
Despite putting her hand down on her handspring front tuck full, Black also won bronze on vault with a huge handspring front pike half (13.95 average). British Columbia's Shae Zamardi finished third on bars (13.2), behind Vaculik's younger sister Natalie (13.4).
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