AIRDRIE, Alta.  ---Showing peak form, three-time Olympic medal winner Karen Cockburn and Rosannagh MacLennan, both of Toronto, easily won the gold medal in women’s synchro trampoline event at the Canada Cup meet on Friday.

Cockburn and MacLennan, gearing up to reclaim their world synchro title this fall, also qualified first and second for the women’s individual event final on Saturday.

Mariah Madigan and Samantha Sendel, who train at the same club in Toronto, placed second and the U.S. duo of Dakota Earnest and Alicia Power finished third.

In the men’s synchro, Marty Myers of Toronto and Carl Rom-Colthoff of Aurora, Ont., edged Jason Burnett of Toronto and Charles Thibault of Quebec City for top spot in the final.

Burnett led the field of 23 competitors in the men’s individual trampoline preliminaries,  with Tengiz Koshkadze of Georgia a distance second and Thibault in third.

Burnett, who missed most of last season with a broken ankle, has had up and down results since returning to competition this past spring but has been showing in spurts a return to the form that carried him to the silver medal at the Bejing Olympics in 2008.

In other senior events, women’s world double mini champion Corissa Boychuk, came through on cue in front of a hometown crowd, qualifying first for Saturday’s double mini final.

In the men’s double mini prelims, Keegan Soehn of Red Deer, Alta., edged Luke Friesen Kelowna B.C., for top spot.

While Canada’s big trampoline stars lived up to expectations, scores of younger competitors in different age groups were busy competing in both trampoline and tumbling events.

Among the standouts on Friday was Benjamin Blais of Vancouver who won the novice title for 11-14 year-old boys.

“I knew I had a good chance to win,” said Blais. “I felt a little nervous before the final but I like that because it makes me focus more.”

Brody Atkin of Airdrie placed second and Caiden Cline of Red Deer was third.
The competition concludes on Saturday.