Seniors Prepare For Pan Am Games, Dolci Dominates At Elite Canada MAG
Seniors Prepare For Pan Am Games, Dolci Dominates At Elite Canada MAG
Justin Karstadt won the senior all-around title at Elite Canada MAG ahead of competing at the 2019 Pan American Games.
The 2019 Elite Canada MAG competition demonstrated the talent and depth in both the senior and junior ranks of Canadian men's gymnastics as Justin Karstadt and Evgeny Siminiuc won the senior and junior 16-17 all-around titles, respectively, while other gymnasts dominated the apparatus finals.
A full replay and individual routines have been archived here on FloGymnastics.
Senior
NCAA gymnasts topped the senior men's all-around podium with Karstadt, a recent University of Minnesota graduate, and Darren Wong, a current gymnast at the University of California-Berkeley, taking the top two senior all-around spots on Friday with a 80.450 and 79.200, respectively. Finishing third was Zachary Clay with a 79.050. This podium was a departure from the Canadian Championships top three as Karstadt was the only gymnast of these three to medal in the all-around during the national championships.
Elite Canada was an important meet for the senior men as it was their last before heading to the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. Karstadt, Clay, Cory Paterson, Rene Cournoyer, and Samuel Zakutney will represent Canada at Pan Ams.
Karstadt noted he wasn't perfect at Elite Canada but hit six for six, so he told Gymnastics Canada that he "can't ask for much more."
"This was a great test run for Lima—it definitely helps the confidence," Karstadt said. "It's almost a good thing that I wasn't perfect—it means I'm kind of saving it for Pan Ams!"
Clay had a few mistakes and room to improve, particularly on vault and high bar. But like his Pan Am Games teammate, he didn't view it negatively.
"I know what I have to work on before we compete in Peru," he said.
Reigning national all-around champion Zakutney was close to medaling in the all-around with a fifth-place score of 78.050.
The remainder of the Pan Am Games team showed what they'll bring to Lima during the apparatus finals Saturday.
Paterson won gold on parallel bars and high bar. Clay was the silver medalist on pommel horse, while Cournoyer took bronze on rings.
Although he won't be competing at the Pan Am Games, another standout of Elite Canada MAG was William Emard, who showed his prowess on the power events by winning vault and floor, but also his strength with a silver on rings.
Junior (16-17)
Fresh off a top-10 all-around performance at the Junior World Championships, Evgeny Siminiuc won his first all-around title ahead of reigning national champion Felix Dolci, who finished second, and Patrick Talbot, who was third.
Siminiuc said training for Elite Canada was "a bit tough" because he had just competed at Junior Worlds, but this marked his final competition of the season, so he was able to end on a high note.
According to Gymnastics Canada, Talbot almost didn't compete at the meet because of a finger fracture. "I was surprised to find out how good I did," he said. In addition to the all-around bronze, Talbot also won silver on pommel horse and gold on high bar in apparatus finals.
While Dolci wasn't able to take the all-around title, he dominated during event finals, winning all events but high bar. 2019 Elite Canada is his last junior meet, so he ended his junior career very well.
Siminiuc and Dolci's fellow Junior Worlds teammate Nathan Yvars also took home some end-of-season hardware. He won bronze on rings and high bar and silver on vault.
Junior (14-15)
The 14-15 division also saw a change on top of the all-around podium from Canadian Championships. Xavier Olasz was first with a 67.400 ahead of reigning junior 14-15 national champion Trentin Miligan, who earned a 65.000.
Full results can be found here.