Ellie Black wins third straight all around title at Canadian gymnastics championships

Black, ranked third after the qualification round, bounced back with a strong overall performance on the final day of the competition, placing first on beam, second on floor and uneven bars and third on vault to win the all around gold with a score of 57.950 points.

Onyshko placed first on floor and uneven bars, second on beam and seventh on vault to win the silver medal with 57.550 points.

Rose-Kaying Woo of La Prairie, Que., the 2014 Canadian junior champion who led the field after Thursday’s qualification, came up with another strong performance to earn bronze with 55.00 points in a field of 16 finalists.

In the men’s senior apparatus finals, veteran Kevin Lytwyn of Stoney Creek, Ont., won gold in the high bar final and  silver medals on rings and vault and bronze on floor to lead the way.

“Training last week was not the best so my focus here was to relax a little bit, take some of the intensity out of things and it worked out,” said Lytwyn.

“My high bar routine was the highlight but hitting my rings routine and scoring over 15 points was also I goal I had coming into the competition.”

Other gold medal winners were Scott Morgan of Vancouver on floor, Ken Ikeda of Abbotsford, B.C. on pommel horse, Robert Stanescu of Windsor, Ont., on rings, Damien Cachia of Calgary on vault and all around champion Jackson Payne of Edmonton on parallel bars.

Results from this year’s Canadian championships will be a key factor in selecting teams for the Pan American Games this summer in Toronto and the 2015 world championships in the fall.

“After the first day of competition a few guys did great and a few guys made some mistakes and I thought it was going to be easy to pick my teams but today there were some outstanding performances and it’s made my job a little tougher,” said men’s national team director Tony Smith of Calgary.

In the women’s competition, the 1-2 finish of Black and Onyshko, confirmed their status as leading contenders for a Pan Am Games berth. 

“Ellie rose to the occasion today when it was really important and I’m hoping we’re going to see that again in the major upcoming events,” said national women’s team director Dave Brubaker of Sarnia, Ont.

After placing eighth in the beam qualification, Black came back with the the best performance of the day in the final.

“I was able to leave that behind and come into the final with a fresh start and just go out and just hit the routines.”

Both the Canadian men’s and women’s Pan Am teams will be announced on June 4th.

In the women’s junior competition Megan Roberts of Toronto won the all around title with 55.40 points and added three more medals in the event finals, including gold on floor and vault.

Jade Chrobok of Toronto won the silver with 55.250 points and Meixi Semple of Oshawa, Ont., took the bronze with a score of 52.800.

Results