Gymnastics duo working hard to stay on 2011 Canada Games team

BIBLE HILL - The to-do list for a pair of Cobequid Spartans gymnasts just got a little longer.
Alicia Stewart and Jessica Garrett went to the recent 2011 Canada Games tryouts in Sackville looking to gain some valuable experience and hopefully make the team's first cut.
Now that they've accomplished that goal they're presented with a new challenge. They're looking to stay there.
"It would be my biggest accomplishment yet," said Garrett, a North River resident.
The next cuts for the team, which will narrow the field from the top 20 in the province to the top 15, will be held sometime before April, with another cut this summer. Eventually the team will be whittled down to the final seven which will represent Nova Scotia at the Games in Halifax.
The gymnasts are ranked in four events: the vault, bars, beam and floor. The gymnasts are graded by points in each event with the top overall scores remaining on the team.
Garrett, 13, was ranked third on the floor in the opening tryout, while Stewart, a 15-year-old Brookfield resident, was fourth on the bars.
Both are impressive accomplishments considering
the pair are the only competitors still on the team from outside the Halifax Regional Municipality. Several clubs there train for 30 hours a week, while the Spartans put in 15 hours weekly.
"It says a lot about their determination," said the girls' Spartans coach Kim Bernard. "I run their training a little differently because I like them to have an outside life too and I think that's something that makes them work harder when they are here."
Following the tryouts the Canada Games coaches informed Bernard her two athletes had made the first
cut. Bernard then made the announcement at a Spartans practice.
"I was like 'oh my gosh am I dreaming?'" Garrett said of the moment she found out.
"I'm still shocked I made it. I wasn't expecting it at all."
"It felt really good," Stewart added with a smile. "I was relieved to hear it."
Bernard was just as happy.
"I'm proud of them," she said. "It's really exciting and good for them and the club as well."
But now that happiness brings a bit more nervousness as well to make the next set of cuts.
"There's a lot of good gymnasts in Nova Scotia that's for sure," Stewart said.
"It definitely won't be a piece of cake," Garrett added.
The pair train and take part in competitions all
year, with the exception of July, to hone their skills and both are pushing hard to make the Canada Games team.
"It's great to represent the Spartans and it would be a great accomplishment," Stewart said.

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