It was a great showing for the competitors of the North Peace Gymnastics Association at the Goldpan Invitational Meet in Quesnel on Feb. 20.

Twelve competitive girls and two interclub athletes made the trip. It was the first competition of the season for many of them.

“At first it was a bit of a rough start, but in the end, I was really proud of all of them. They all walked away with accomplishing something and proving again that we’re good competition,” said NPGA coach Leanne Couch.

Seven-year-old Anne Marie Barrette is actually a Pre-Argo gymnast, but competed in the Level 1 Argo category because there was no one her age to go up against. She placed in every event in the older category, won a bronze medal on bars and finished sixth overall. Marly Lock was first on bars while Tailyn Lock was second, giving the NPGA a sweep in the Level 1 Argo bars event.

“All of us were out there, it was really cool to see,” said Couch.

Though she was the youngest athlete, Barrette said she wasn’t worried competing against the older girls.

“It wasn’t scary. I think that I could beat them,” she said, adding that bars is her favourite category.

“It’s fun catching the bar.”

Marly Lock was first overall in Level 1 Argo, with Tailyn Lock fifth overall and Barrette sixth.

It was a well-deserved first place for Marly Lock.

“She’s the only one out of the whole group that stuck her cartwheel and she was just beaming from ear to ear, so proud of herself and continued her routine – the confidence and everything was just huge,” said Couch, adding that the Level 1s had a great first competition of the season.

“You could tell the joy on their faces like ‘this is fun, I like this’. To me it went back to the root of it all because when you start coaching the higher levels it’s stressful, when you’re with the little ones again it takes you back and it’s really fun.”

Rachelle Mackey was fifth overall in Level 2 Tyro, winning gold on bars and silver on floor.

Aleisha Kantz was fourth overall in Level 2 Novice, winning a gold on beam and bronze on bars. Meriah Kantz was eighth overall with a fourth place on bars.

“Aleisha, wow I’ve never seen her compete on beam like she did at this competition, not one fall, not one wobble – it was so deserving of the gold medal,” said Couch.

Added Aleisha Kantz: " I think I did really good, it’s the best I’ve done."

Janelle Sonmor and Daisy Petrucci finished in third and fourth place, respectively, in the Level 3 Open division. The two tied for first place on the beam. It was Sonmor’s first competition in Level 3, she also finished second on floor, third on bars and fourth on vault. Petrucci won silver on vault and bars and fifth on floor.

Jaston Stockall was second overall in Level 3 Tyro. She was first on bars, second on vault and floor and third on beam.

“I was really proud of my bars because I hit all my skills really good,” she said.

This is the first year in a while the NPGA athletes have competed in Level 4. Brianna Owen, Jeryn Mackey and Heather Smith, all of the NPGA, were the only competitors in the division.

“They proved themselves worthy of that Level 4 status. It showed some good promise and good practice for them,” said Couch.

It was a great end to their first competition of the season.

“Overall I was just super excited, I think they all walked away feeling like they accomplished something great,” said Couch.

The NPGA will host Zone Championships March 5 and 6. On March 5, the Level 2s will compete at 9:30 a.m., with the Levels 1, 3, 4 competing at 2 p.m. The GymStarts and Interclub athletes will compete on March 6.