As she helped Hailey Dyck and Kyra Kolenosky prepare for their first ever trip to the Gym Sask provincial championships, Battlefords Gymnastics Club head coach Danielle Clark wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
It turned out that the duo did better than she would have expected as both Dyck and Kolenosky reached the podium in the Junior Olympic level four division in Saskatoon on May 13.
“They had both preformed well at events earlier in the season, but you never really know what’s going to happen until you get to the provincials, as it’s such a different atmosphere,” Clark said.
“To see them reach the podium and adapt to the challenges that they faced was awesome, and everyone here at the club is really proud of what they accomplished.”
Dyck brought home a gold medal in the balance beam event and earned silver medals in the all-around category and the floor exercise competition.
She also had fourth place results in the vault and uneven bars events.
“I was really pleased with how the day went,” Dyck said.
“Going into the event, I was focused on executing my routines and making sure that I wasn’t distracted by everything that was going on around me, as there were more people at the provincials than many of the events I had been to before.”
Kolenosky also reached the podium twice as she won a silver medal in the vault and captured a bronze medal in floor exercise.
She finished in fourth place in the balance beam event, had a fifth place result in the all-around category and came home in sixth in the uneven bars competition.
“There’s so much happening during the day that it can sometimes be a little crazy with how busy things are,” Kolenosky said.
“To get on the podium was awesome and I was really happy about that. I learned a lot and I think that should help both Hailey and I as we move up in competitions.”
Going into the provincials, Clark spent a lot of time preparing Dyck and Kolenosky for the noise levels that they would experience over the course of the day with many events going on at the same time.
“During our practices here, we’d have the other gymnasts get as loud as they possibly could while they were performing, which is something that happens during the event as people react to another competition that’s going on,” Clark said.
“We also had them stop and watch both Hailey and Kyra while they were on the balance beam. I think that helped the girls get used to the feeling of all eyes being on them.”
With how well both girls preformed in Saskatoon, Clark expects their provincial performances to be a huge building block for Dyck and Kolenosky as they prepare for next season.
“They’ll be moving up to the Junior Olympic level six category, so their schedule will be a little bit busier,” Clark said.
“Many of the events they are going to are similar to what they experienced at the provincials, so having that under their belts is a huge positive.”
The BGC will wrap up their season Saturday at 2 p.m. with a fun meet for their athletes at their facility at 752 110th Street.
