Smithers Saltos Gymnast Grace Allen was in Vancouver last week, competing for team B.C. at the Western Canadian Championships and brought home some proud finishes.
“I did pretty good on floor and vault, I got third on both of them. Overall I got sixth and my team was first overall,” said Allen.
Allen was selected by team B.C. to compete at the Western Canadian Championships after qualifying at provincials earlier in the year.
Approaching qualifying age and skill, Allen is preparing to pursue her gymnastics career and according to her coach Alana Jensen, is looking to reach the national level next year.
“We’re hoping that next year she’ll be able to compete nationally and then we’re hoping that from there she’ll be able to qualify for nationals,” she said.
“First year at nationals is kind of a big step. It’s a pretty big range so she’ll be a newbie into that category and will have to get a lot of new skills. But, it will be a good experience. This was her second time at Westerns so definitely a good experience and good competition.”
Allen has been progressing over the year but now has proven that her skill is superior to a lot of the competition she faces and has prompted her and her coaches to want to push further and compete at the highest levels in the country.
As training continues, Jensen hopes Allen will continue to show promise with a bright future in competitive gymnastics.
“She’s young and hopefully will be national next year, so she potentially has a long career ahead of herself so she should look for a lot of good things like making team B.C.,” Jensen said.