For a second consecutive year, a Prince George gymnast was honoured for her actions in competition as well as in conversation.
Kaydence Bellerive may have earned a single piece of hardware in her all-around Junior Olympic (J.O.) Level Seven category, but it was her efforts, her attitude and her smile that caught the attention of organizers for the annual Christy Fraser Memorial Invitational this past weekend.
The 13-year-old finished fourth all-around while also claiming a silver medal on the balance beam, falling short of gold by 0.025 points in the discipline and the podium by 0.050 points.
However, her passion and sportsmanship walked out of Langley on Sunday (Feb. 16) with the Christy Fraser Award, named after the gymnast who died in 1992 at 12 years old after she contracted E. Coli.
Ella Petrovicky was given the award in 2019 after claiming all-around gold and added a bronze from vault.
Bellerive is now off to Fort St. John with three other Prince George teammates this week to represent the Cariboo-North East region at the 2020 B.C. Winter Games.
In other results from the local gymnastics club, Kate Patrick stood alone as the only northern capital athlete to win all-around gold at the Christy Fraser Memorial.
The J.O. Six junior flipped and tumbled her way to two gold medals on the uneven bars, with a score of 9.150, and on floor exercise, 9.475, to finish atop the podium.
She added a silver on vault and eighth place on the balance beam.
J.O. 10 gymnast Alia Wilson had an admirable weekend, earning an all-around silver, which included a gold medal on the balance beam.
Hanna Piddocke also won the all-around J.O. Seven silver, jumping to a gold on the uneven bars in the process.
Altogether, the Prince George Gymnastics Club brought back 36 medals between the female and male competitors.
The athletes will now prepare for provincial championships taking place in Victoria from March 5 to 7.
