Twist and Flips gymnasts rock the Rockies

By JAMES TUBB on June 1, 2024.

The Twist and Flips Gymnastics Club wrapped up their season in high fashion.

The local club sent five gymnasts to the Summit Invitational in Canmore last weekend and returned with a plethora of hardware: seven gold ribbons, five gold medals, three silver and three bronze medals.

Tenley Aberle won the level four in her age category, with a bronze in the vault, gold in bars, fourth in beam, a bronze on the floor and a gold all-around.

Myla Aberle finished second all-around, with a fifth in vault, gold in bars and the beam and a silver on the floor.

Sophia Calhoun finished her first year at level three with a fifth place all-around. She finished sixth in vault, fifth on bars, seventh on the beam and picked up a bronze on the floor.

Shelby Bircham crushed the level two competition, winning gold in all five categories, vault, bars, beam, floor and all-around.

Milana Lillico showcased her abilities at her first ever meet, winning gold in vault, beam and on the floor and took silvers in bars and all-around.

Twist and Flips owner Randy McMullen says the gymnasts competed against other clubs from Saskatchewan, British Columbia as well as Alberta and he says it was a great way for them to cap off their season.

McMullen says he’s seen a lot of improvement from the five gymnasts throughout the season.

“Tenley moved from level three to level four this year, so in your first year usually of any level, you don’t really perform as well but they’ve been working really hard,” McMullen said. “Because of that they’ve enjoyed the fruits of their labour. They’ve worked hard in training and it’s nice to see them do well against the bigger centres, against the Calgary and the Edmonton teams, because our athletes don’t train as many hours we would like them to.”

McMullen says the success this group of five has had as well as Lauren Pancoast who won provincials in the level four category, only increases the drive and growth of the younger gymnasts at Twist and Flips.

“A lot of our younger athletes have seen these girls and look up to these girls and seen their work ethic and how they work hard,” McMullen said.