Local athletes take their talents to the national stage out east

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

A pair of local athletes put their best foot forward at separate national competitions last weekend.
Montana Fairbairn made her inaugural appearance on the national stage in gymnastics’ highest competition last weekend at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex in Waterloo, Ont.
Fairbairn, 15, jumped up to the High Performance Senior level for artistic gymnastics competition for the first time in her career. As the little fish now swimming in an ocean of elite gymnasts, the odds of her medalling at the meet were unlikely, as she was matched up against former Olympians.
“I didn’t do as well as I hoped to, but I know I was competing against the best of the best in our country, so I was still pretty happy with myself,” said Fairbairn.
That doesn’t mean the Grade 10 Strathmore High School student didn’t show well under the bright lights.
Out of 23 performers, Fairbairn placed 19th and was the top finisher from Alberta. Both accolades are more than respectable, given her experience level and the limited difficulty of her routines.
Fairbairn competed in all four events: the vault, uneven bars, floor routine and the beam.
Her best performance came in the floor routine – her favourite event – where she placed ninth with a combined score of 25.699, 1.767 points behind Olympian and newly-crowned national champion Ellie Black.
“There were a few falls on the beam and the bars that I normally don’t do that led to a couple low scores,” said Fairbairn. “I think that was due to being a little nervous on the first day and less nervous on the second day.”
Elsewhere, the local gymnast turned in a 27.349 on the vault to finish 14th, a 20.924 on the beam to put her 19th and earned a 20.466 on the uneven bars for 22nd.
Fairbairn was dreaming of a top 10 finish at Waterloo, and she wasn’t too far off. She was only 4.036 points away from achieving her goal. Something that is within her grasp in the years to come as she approaches her prime as a gymnast.
Competing as a member of Team Alberta, Fairbairn and her provincial mate Elizabeth Holmstrom took home third place in the team standings with a total score of 185.244, behind the two juggernaut provinces Ontario (319.618) and Quebec (310.789), who both had double the number of gymnasts competing.
“Just the experience competing with the top seniors in our country was a blast,” said Fairbairn. “It was so much fun to share the floor with them.”
Fairbairn is officially in off-season mode now, stating that she has a list of things in her routines to clean up this summer to prepare her for another run at a national title, which starts back up again next fall.

National experience
Payton Jensen was the other Spartan gunning for a national title last weekend. The fellow Grade 10 student was a member of the national champion Calgary Renegades last season in U16 girls water polo and looking to defend that title last weekend.
After a rocky start to their National Championship League this year, the Renegades turned their season around just in time to capture the Western Conference Finals and advanced to the national meet, which took place at Parc Olympique in Montreal, Que. last weekend.
“The set up of the tourney was very different from last year,” said Jensen. “We also played two eastern teams that we knew nothing about, which made it hard to prepare for.”
The Renegades opened the tourney with a 9-6 loss May 24 to the eventual silver medalist Capital Wave out of Ottawa. May 25 saw the Renegades lose to the Pacific Storm 8-3 and 9-3 to the eventual national champion and hosts Dollard Black.
The Renegades closed out nationals with an 11-9 loss to the Pacific Storm of Vancouver in their closest game of the weekend.
“We ended the tourney pretty strong. We shut out the national champions for three quarters and we had a lead over the team we lost to in the western final but lost in a shootout. We definitely played better as the tournament went on,” said Jensen. “Overall, it still was a fantastic trip and it was great to be there to put up a fight for the national title again.”
Getting more playing time than in her first trip to nationals, Jensen was held off the scoreboard for the duration of the tournament. Part of the enjoyment for Jensen came from carrying a bigger role on the team this year. Last year, she didn’t see the pool much in the national title game. This year, she played in all but one game, starting as a defensive cog, then transitioning over to offence where she help set up the Renegades system.
But that doesn’t mean it was a waste of a trip. Jensen took advantage of visiting one of Canada’s oldest and prettiest cities.
“We were done by 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, so we went and checked out Mount Royal,” said Jensen. “That was probably my favourite part because the view is so amazing from there. We also checked out the U19 gold medal game and then went and had lunch in the Old Port.”
This was her last crack at a national title at the U16 level. Next year, she will jump in the pool at the U19 level.
Losing out at nationals doesn’t mean that her season is over, though. Jensen is still waiting to hear back from Team Alberta on whether she made the provincial team or not. If she did, it would mean an increase in training sessions in Calgary highlighted by a trip to New Zealand in July.