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Brittany Rogers looking for second straight title at Elite Canada women's gymnastics meet
Posted Thursday, December 10, 2009
OAKVILLE, Ont. -- Brittany Rogers of Coquitlam, B.C. leads a strong field in the women’s senior competition at this year’s Elite Canada gymnastics meet December 11-13 in Oakville, Ont.
Rogers, 16, who clearly established herself as the country’s top female gymnast with a stellar showing at the world championships in October, won’t be able to rest on her laurels, however, with both old and new challengers for medals in both the all around and individual event competitions.
“It’s going to be very exciting with the calibre of competition this year, and not just in the senior competition,” says Canadian women’s program director Lise Simard of Gatineau, Que.
“We also have a very strong junior field that we expect will include several competitors who will go on to compete at the 2012 Olympics in London.”
The senior competition will be highlighted by the return to competition of 2008 Olympic veteran Nansy Damianova of Montreal, and Kristina Vaculik of Oshawa, who was selected as the reserve gymnast for the Beijing Games, but was forced to withdraw with an injury.
Vaculik is expected to be in the running for the all around while Damianova is strongest on vault and floor in the individual events.
Others expected to be in the all around medal hunt are Dominique Pegg of Sarnia, Ont., third all around at the 2009 Canadian championships, Anysia Unick of Calgary, first all around in the junior category at the 2009 Canadian championships and rising stars Madeline Gardiner of Cambridge, Ont., Rochelle Hurt of Mississauga, Ont., and Coralie Leblond-Chartrand of Montreal.
Gardiner and Unick, who led Canada to the team silver medal at the Pan Am Junior Championships last month, Hurt and Leblond-Chartrand, who won the Elite Canada junior all around title in 2008, will be making their debut at the senior level.
In the junior competition, gymnasts to watch include Sabrinna Gill of Oakville, Ont., the all around novice winner last year at Elite Canada, Mikaela Gerber of Cambridge, Ont., second all around at the 2009 Canadian junior championships, and Victoria Moors, also of Cambridge, Ont., the 2009 Canadian novice champion.
Competition begins Friday with novice and senior all around and concludes Sunday with junior and senior event finals.
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