Burnaby athletes took a further step up the podium at the recent B.C. artistic gymnastics championships.
Burnaby Central Secondary student Taylor Oakleyand Tamara Kuno of Burnaby were elevated to first and second, respectively, in the women's national open category at the provincials in Kamloops.
Kuno posted the high score on the uneven bars and was fourth on the balance beam to place runner-up in the all-around.
Oakley was first on the bars and second on beam, while also placing third on vault, while registering a top-five score on floor exercises to win the all-around with a 51.550 total score.
Flicka Gymnastic clubmate Clair Kaji, who initially had topped the national open category with the all-around 52.000 score, was later moved to the high performance category, where she placed runner-up behind teammate Briannah Tsang of Burnaby.
Kuno scored 13.050 on the bars and finished with a total all-around score of 50.200, earning the 17-year-old Burnaby resident a spot on Team B.C. for the Western Canadian championships in Saskatoon in April. Kuno and Oakley, who also qualified for the Westerns, are also hoping to earn a spot at the nationals in May.
Oakley scored a second-best 13.700 on beam and 12.200 on bars. Her 13.250 score on the vault was also just a fraction off Kristen Ho's winning 13.550 score for Vancouver Phoenix.
Burnaby gymnast Itzia San Roman Santillan of Phoenix moved up to sixth in the all-around with top-six scores in the vault and beam and a second-best 12.500 score on floor.
Burnaby's Sofia Savkovic of TAG Sports placed 17th overall.
In the senior high performance division, Tsang posted the high all-around score of 52.550, including a 14.150 score in her specialty the vault.
Tsang, who commited to an athletic scholarship to Penn State University this fall, will be attending the nationals. She is also on the long list for the Commonwealth Games.
