Sudbury Laurels off to a running start

With Christmas just around the corner, the crew with the GymZone Sudbury Laurels have plenty to celebrate, with the first competition of the season now in the books for all three groups.

Earlier this month, all five of the club’s provincial trampolinists made their way to Pickering, site of the first Cup event, with four of the five cracking the top 10 in their respective categories.

Sebastian Larochelle (seventh place – men’s provincial four), Pauleena Moote (eighth – women’s provincial three – U13), Halley Baker (eighth – women’s provincial two – 13/14) and Jay Norrie (sixth – men’s provincial one – 13+) all turned the trick, despite some initial concerns with the venue.

“When I first walked in the gym, I thought the ceiling was a bit low,” said Larochelle. “I thought I was going to hit it, so I had to adjust my bounce height a bit lower.”
The 16-year-old Grade 11 student is targeting a berth at nationals this year, looking to follow in the footsteps of teammate Kyle Lapierre.

“I’ve been focusing on getting cleaner, bouncing higher,” said Larochelle.

“If I do a back tuck, when I kick out, I want to stay straight. Sometimes, when I’m nervous, I shake in the air.”

Two weekends later, it would be men’s artistic gymnastics competitor Zachary Cleaver who would make his debut in provincial competition, enjoying an outstanding weekend in Burlington.

His appearance of the first qualifier was highlighted by a first-place finish on parallel bars, and third on rings. Competing in the age 10-11 level one provincial category, Cleaver finished eighth in the all-around aggregate standings.

“This was one of the strongest debuts to the provincial stream from the Sudbury Laurels,” noted coach Michelle Seanor. “His goals for the beginning of this season were to experience competing at a provincial level – bringing home some hardware and a top eight all-around placing for his first time out is a huge accomplishment.”