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The Polarettes Gymnastics Club travelled to Kelowna, B.C., not to hunt for the legendary Okanagan Lake monster Ogopogo, but rather compete in their final gymnastics meet of the season, the Ogopogo Invitational 2019 on the weekend.

The club brought gymnasts as high as Junior Olympic (JO) 6 to Kelowna and they returned to Whitehorse with quite the medal haul. Overall the gymnasts won seven gold, 12 silver and nine bronze.

One of the Polarettes coaches to travel with the team was Ewan Campbell, who was coaching at his first competitive meet.

鈥淚t was my first meet out of town and my second ever meet ever just being around because I wasn鈥檛 part of the competitive last year,鈥� said Campbell. 鈥淚t was very nerve-wracking but a lot of fun.鈥�

Campbell had three of the girls he coaches travel to Ogopogo and one, Layla Hombert, left Kelowna as the Polarettes most decorated gymnast.

鈥淥ne of them killed it with four gold medals and a silver,鈥� said Campbell. 鈥淚t was insane. In vault, it was a three-way tie with three other girls who all scored 9.9 which is insane. In her last meet, she scored a 9.8 so I knew she had it in her. Vault is definitely her thing.鈥�

Along with her gold on vault, she also was the top gymnast in bars, floor, all around and earned silver on beam.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know what to expect,鈥� said Campbell. 鈥淚 know they are very good and I know if they do as well as they can possibly do they will do it very well.鈥�

One of the things that made her day most impressive, said Campbell, is that Hombert remained consistent throughout her day.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 look at the score much if at all, but she was definitely having a great day,鈥� he said.鈥�

The other two girls Campbell coached, Alayna Mortimer and Aubree Hombert also had success days at the gym.

鈥淚t was Aubree鈥檚 first outside meet and did super consistent gymnastics,鈥� said Campbell

鈥淎layna had a bit of a hiccup on beam but pulled it back and managed to medal all around.鈥�

Moving into the summer Campbell said the girls have the skills to move up and that he was an extremely proud coach.

Moving into the summer Campbell said the girls have the skills to move up and that he was an extremely proud coach.

鈥淰ery proud, I almost (cried),鈥� said Campbell through a laugh.

Caitlyn Vanasse had two athletes medal at Ogopogo, Sabrina Hartland and Amelie Guilbeault. Hartland got silver on bars and gold on floor, while Guilbeault got silver on vault, bars and all around.

鈥淚t is always super exciting when they are standing up on the podium and they are looking back at you,鈥� said Vanasse.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a big sense of pride.鈥�

Vanasse said it is very impressive when gymnasts score well in all around because it is a testament to their consistency.

鈥淚t鈥檚 impressive when you place all around because all of your events were good enough to score,鈥� said Vanasse. 鈥淎s a coach, it鈥檚 something you really want to see.鈥�

Other winners at Ogopogo were JO 4 Cydney Williams who won bronze on vault and all around as well as silver on floor.

Annie McNeil, a JO 2 competing in her first Outside tournament, scored a gold in vault and got silver in the other four events.

JO 6 Mackenzie Tonner earned bronze on beam and bars and finished fourth in all around. Fellow JO 6 Camille Belanger got bronze on vault and all around and silver on bars and beam.

Both Campbell and Caitlin said all the girls who competed showed very good gymnastics on the weekend.

With the season finished and no tournaments on the near horizon Polarettes head coach Kimberly Jones who did not travel to Kelowna, said overall it was a successful year that exceeded the clubs goals.

鈥淚t was supposed to be a rebuilding year,鈥� said Jones.