On Friday, Whitehorse gymnasts, the Polarettes, met at the the Exelta Cup in Red Deer, AB, — earning a bronze medal and showcasing some of the talent they plan to bring to a hometown crowd at this year's Arctic Winter Games.

The Exelta cup is a regional event, held annually in Red Deer.

It features teams from across Alberta but also features some teams from outside the province.

This is the clubs' second year at the Exelta cup, but the first competition for several team members.

"They are a fairly new team this year and we think they did great for their first competition,” said Catherine O'Donovan, head coach.

The team sent eight athletes to the event — five level two and three level three competitors.

This is the level two girls' first event outside the region.

"They went without thinking of placing,” said O'Donovan. "All the girls did well, and achieved their personal goals. Five of my athletes had never competed Outside, except for Juneau, which is regional.”

It was the second time competing at the cup for the Polarettes' three level three competitors, all of which will be competing in this year's AWG.

"We seem to go on Arctic Winter Games years,” said O'Donovan. "It's good preparation for the games. The level threes have done this before and they went into things, hoping to place,”said O'Donovan.

Caitlyn Venasse was top overall, overcoming a cold to place top eight in three events.

She came eighth on vault, sixth on bars, seventh on beam, ninth on floor and seventh overall, some of her best results at an Outside competition.

Reena Coyne, another level three competitor, placed 12th on vault, 11th on bars, 17th on beam, 15 on floor, and 19th overall.

Fayne O'Donovan won bronze in the vault, despite having torn a ligament in her ankle six weeks ago.

"Fayne is working on getting back into the shape she was in before her injury,” said O'Donovan. "But she recovered faster than we thought and her skills are improving greatly, and she's come home with a medal.”

She also placed 10th on bars, ninth on beam and 10th on floor with a 12th place in the all around.

Megan Banks had the best result in the level two category.

Banks earned a fourth place finish on vault, eighth on bars, 18th on beam, 13th on floor with 15th all around.

Robyn Poulter, another level two novice, placed 16th on vault, 15th on bars, 17th on beam and 15th on floor and 19th in the all around.

Maggie Fekete placed 19th on vault, 27th on bars, 32nd on beam, 24th on floor and 34th all around; Anisa Albisser got 12th on vault, 24th on bars, 12th on beam and 21st on floor and 24th overall; and Kendra Peters placed 10th on vault, 11th on bars, 29th on beam and 11th on floor and 19th overall.

The event is part of a focused training regimen the team has been working on in preparation for the Arctic Winter Games in March.

"Gymnastics is an individual sport. But at the games we will be expected to compete as a team, so we are training the kids to not only increase repetitions and the technical things but also observing the others, stepping up andseeing what needs to be done to win. Working with a team is a totally different mindset.”

This year's team will include Venasse, Coyne, Peters and O'Donovan.

O'Donovan says the team has come a long way this season and is looking forward to competing at this year's winter games.

"We're a strong team, especially when it comes to vault,” said O'Donovan. "Most of all, the kids want to show Whitehorse what we've been working on. They want to show their hometown what they are all about.”