The Polarettes Gymnastics Club had a busy weekend of competition in Montreal last weekend. The eight athletes competed at Gymnix, the largest meet on the team's schedule.

"It is the biggest competition that they go to in a season," said head coach Kimberly Jones. "There are bigger meets in terms of, Westerns is kind of a higher-pressure because it's territories and provinces competing against each other.

"In terms of actual sizes of contingents, they are competing against Gymnix is the largest. It's typically 25-40 kids per rotation. They (the Polarettes) are used to competing against 11-12 people on average."

Sabrina Hartland, Amelie Guilbeault, Mackenzie Tonner, Camille Belanger, Olivia Vangel and Adria Gallina competed in the Junior Olympic (JO) 6 level. Lily Witten and Maude Molgat competed JO 8.

Jones said for some of the JO 6 gymnasts, it was their first time at Gymnix and overall, all the athletes showed good gymnastics.

"I think the kids did amazing," said Jones. "This is the first time I think that every kid we've taken to Gymnix placed in the top eight on at least one event.

"Typically, our strongest athletes would compete and be able to place at Gymnix but maybe not the whole majority. The kids that were competing at Gymnix for the first time maybe wouldn't place because they are competing against 40 kids. It's a lot harder to place top eight.

Like any gymnastics competition, the Polarettes competed in beam, bars, floor and vault. Their overall total gives them their all-around score. What was most impressive for Jones was that most who placed top eight did so in all-around.

"Most of them placed in the all-around," said Jones. "That was pretty exciting as someone running a program to see the evolution. The first year we went to Gymnix, nobody placed on anything. We've come along way. That was only four years ago.

Jones said if the athletes focus on performing their best gymnastics, the results would eventually follow.

"I'd say that's what happened and that's what the kids were focusing on," said Jones. "They had a mentally stronger competition because they were just going out there to do what they usually do.

"They went out and said, 'We are going to do our best gymnastics.' They all had little goals before they competed, technical goals that they could control. The majority of the kids hit their technical goals. All of them hit them on at least one event, some went four-for-four."

Going four-for-four, Jones explained, meant the kids didn't take a fall or have a deduction on their events.

"That is a coach's dream," said Jones. "That doesn't always happen."

Jones said the team showed best on bars and vault.

"It was definitely bars to some degree because Amelie placed bronze on bars," said Jones. "And they all seemed to score high on vault."

At Gymnix, there are contingents from across the country as well as internationally. Jones said the team had some takeaways after watching Ontario and Quebec compete.

"In terms of just the kids' overall form, in B.C. and Alberta we thought we were quite comparable," said Jones. "Compared to some of the kids in Quebec and Ontario, it was clear we still had work to do on form and body alignment.

"That would be pointing their toes, straightening their legs, and just making sure the lines are perfectly straight. That's our goal."

Competing against some of the best gyms in the world and placing well, Jones said, was a big confidence boost for the girls.

"It was nice for us as Yukon as this small community to stand up and say we are sixth, third against these huge clubs," said Jones. "It felt pretty good for the kids. It was confidence-building.

"For all of them to come back placing was a huge success for them. They came back motivated and ready to train."

It wasn't all good news for the Polarettes at Gymnix. It was there they learned about the news that the Arctic Winter Games had been cancelled. Three of the four Arctics athletes were at the Montreal competition.

Jones said when they found out about the news the gymnasts were able to shift their attention quickly.

"They pretty quickly shifted their focus to, just because they were surrounded by amazing gymnastics, can we work our harder skills when we get in the gym," said Jones.

"We were really proud of them for not staying too deep in that and letting it bum them out too much. They've learned so much and pushed the team so much on the way to AWG and they still have that."