M’CHIGEENG—The Manitoulin Secondary School (MSS) Mustangs gymnastics team won the level 1 team championship at the 2025 Northern Ontario Secondary School Association (NOSSA) championship.
“In Level 1, the MSS team of Avery Barnes, Alina Lefebvre and Marley Meawasige followed in their predecessors’ footsteps and brought home the Level 1 team championship title for the second year in a row,” said MSS co-coach Heather Theijsmeijer.
Individually, Avery Barnes won a silver medal on beam and bronze on floor events, Alina Lefebvre won gold on beam and was fourth on bars, and Marley Meawasige won a silver medal on vault, silver on bars, was fifth on beam and 10th on floor.
In Level 2, Hazel Cooper, a newcomer to the MSS team, won silver on vault and took 10th place on floor. “Co-captain Grace Pennie (who helped lay the winning foundation on last year’s Level 1 champion team) led the team, competing with grace and aplomb,” said Ms. Theijsmeijer.
Co-captain Aspen Debassige, the team’s only Level 3 competitor this year, had qualified for the championship at regional meets held in March, but unfortunately was unable to compete at NOSSA. Ms. Theijsmeijer pointed out both Grace Pennie and Aspen Debassige started training with the MSS team during the pandemic and led by example throughout the practices and competitions.
“We begin training in November, so it’s a long season,” said Ms. Theijsmeijer. “The athletes worked hard for months to develop new skills and represented MSS extremely well at this season’s meets.”
The NOSSA Gymnastics championship was held on April 8, co-hosted by MSS and the GymZone Gymastics Club in Sudbury. A total of 93 athletes participated in the championship including 13 school teams, and gymnasts from Level 1 (novice) to Level 6 (athletes with a great deal of experience in the sport, usually those training and competing at the provincial level).
Co-coaches Ms. Theijsmeijer and Jill Ferguson thanked the parents and relatives who helped drive the team members to the qualifiers and championship events this season, adding to the cheering section for the school at meets otherwise dominated by Sudbury teams.
