SUDBURY – The Manitoulin Secondary School (MSS) Mustangs gymnastics team posted some very good results at the annual Northern Ontario Secondary School Association (NOSSA) championships. Over 110 high school gymnasts from Northern Ontario gathered at the Gym Zone Gymnastics Club in Sudbury this past Monday to compete in the annual event.
Five athletes from MSS participated, and once again posted impressive results.
In level one, Mary Hore placed fourth on bars and ninth on floor, while Kyleigh Biedermann placed sixth on beam, eighth on vault, 10th on floor and eighth all-around.
In level two, Sophie Hietkamp, taking part in her first-ever meet, placed second on beam, sixth on vault, seventh on bars, ninth on floor, and eighth all-around. Morgan Wall-Varey overcame injury to compete very well on vault and beam.
In level five, which had the strongest field of athletes ever represented at NOSSA, Mackenzie Cortes placed fourth on vault and eighth on beam.
“All of our athletes demonstrated wonderful resilience at this meet, overcoming injury and nerves and really pulling things together,” said coach Jill Ferguson. “The girls surpassed our expectations and we couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Unfortunately, due to decreasing numbers across the province, high school girls’ gymnastics can no longer host an OFSAA festival or championship. As a result, the NOSSA championship was the last competition of the season.
MSS coaches Jill Ferguson and Heather Theijsmeijer were extremely grateful for all of Zoe Smith’s help as manager in keeping things organized and accessible during the meet, and to all the Manitoulin parents who came out to cheer on the team.
