KAMLOOPS, B.C -- Seeking his fifth straight Canadian men’s trampoline title, Jason Burnett of Toronto breezed through his preliminary routines at the Canadian gymnastics championships on Wednesday to finish first in a field of 12 competitors.
None of the other competitors came close to matching the Olympic silver medallist with the “go big or go home” philosophy, who scored a total of 106.010 points for his compulsory and optional routines.
Next best was Charles Thibault of Quebec City with 100.900 points followed by Phil Barbaro of Loretto, Ont., at 96.390.
“I was happy with both my routines,” said Burnett, who is gearing up to break his own world record for degree of difficulty at an upcoming World Cup meet in Switzerland.
In the senior women’s qualification three-time Olympic medal winner Karen Cockburn of Toronto edged defending Canadian champion Rosannagh MacLennan, also of Toronto, for top spot on the strength of her compulsory routine.
Cockburn, who hasn’t decided yet if she will go for a record fourth Olympic medal in London, totalled 100.515 points with MacLennan right on her heels at 99.520.
Samantha Smith of Toronto was well behind in third with 93.070 points.
“As the defending champion it’s a new experience for me,” said MacLennan, who scored the day’s highest optional routine score of 56.355 points despite a minor change made in the air after her second trick.
“My knees buckled a little on the second move so I had to do a tuck instead of a pike but the difficulty stayed the same,” said MacLennan.
In the youth competition, rising star Mariah Madigan of Toronto, easily topped the field with a score of 93.400.
Lexi Geisbrecht Calgary was second with 87.815 points and Joannie Pothier of Three Rivers, Que., placed third at 86.785.
Curtis Gerein of Kelowna, B.C. placed first in the men’s youth qualification.
Madigan, 16, has been flying high since winning a bronze medal behind Cockburn and MacLennan in an open field at the Elite Canada competition in the spring.
“I’d like to be competing with the seniors, so I’ve set standards for myself in both my optional and compulsory routines,” said Madigan, who earned a spot for Canada at the inaugural Youth Olympics this summer in Singapore at the Pan American championships.
“I am trying to pretend that I am competing here as a senior and seeing how my scores compare. They were a little bit lower than I wanted but my routines felt pretty good and I was happy with them.”
The trampoline finals take place on Saturday.
Source: sirc.ca
