The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

BOWMANVILLE - Attendance at the annual Victoria Day Speediest Weekend at Mosport International Raceway was hurt by unseasonably cold temperatures. Still, there was plenty of action for those who braved the elements this long weekend. Clockwise from left: the crews of Edison Iluch's No. 1 Corvette and Jack Scarallo's No. 6 Corvette do some last minute preparations preparations for the American GT Challenge race Sunday; Iluch powers his car onto the front straight during the race, in which he finished second; Ityler Givogue's No. 9 car holds off Benoit Benoit Gagnon's No. 20 in the battle for fourth place of the Civic Championship race; and Civic Championship race winner Stephen Stephen Laporte holds his trophy high while being interviewed by the track announcer. . ' Photos by A.J. Groen / Metroland Durham Region Media Group For more on this story i* WATCH VIDEO Gymnasts are gems on and off the floor It should come as little surprise that Gemini Gymnastics is having such a tremendous year on the mats, beams, bars and vault. After all, the Oshawa-bascd club has been providing a home' to some of Durham's best athletes since 1979. But, my, is this season one for the ages. Whitby's Kristina Vaculik produced the latest, and most impressive, achievement achievement of the season on Friday, when she was crowned the all-around winner in the junior womch's division of the Canadian Gymnastics Championships in Quebec City. Vaculik was also selected by Gymnastics Gymnastics Canada as the Junior High Performance Performance Athlete of the Year and recognized recognized for Remarkable International Gymnastics Achievement in 2005-06, Appropriately, Gemini's Elena Davydova Davydova and Valery Yahchybckov were also recognized as Junior High Performances Performances Coaches of the Year. Brittnec Habbib, Gemini's Senior High Performance athlete, also had a strong meet despite an injury sustained in warm-up. She finished fifth in Canada Canada and was also recognized for Remarkable Remarkable International Achievement. The two star athletes have represented represented the club and country at a pair of prestigious meets, Habbib earning a team bronze at the 2006 Commonwealth Commonwealth Games in Australia and Vaculik Vaculik winning team silver and individual bronze at the Pacific Alliance Gymnastics Gymnastics Championships in Hawaii, But, while leading the way, Habbib and Vaculik merely scratch the surface where success is concerned in 2006, Brian McNair Gemini gymnasts also produced seven Provincial Champions and four Eastern Canadian title holders recently. Katherine Partington, Natalie Vaculik, Riley Cholod, Carrina LoBello, Jacquic Harvey, Daijha Heron and Yasmcen Abdul-Rashid were crowned Ontario champs in a record-breaking performance performance at the Elite Ontario and Provincial Provincial Championship meets. Gemini athletes brought home an astounding 59 medals all told from the two events. More recently, Lauren Steele, Shannon Shannon Sawicky, LoBello and Cholod were pure gold at the Eastern Canadian Canadian Championships in Ancastcr, winning winning their respective divisions. Partington Partington took silver and Mackenzie Merrit bronze at that event. Harvey and LoBello also took part in the Ontario Winter Games in Barrie this season, contributing to a team silver medal. Suffice to say, the club is doing its job producing winners on the floor. But it does so much more, producing winners in life as well. Not only has Gemini helped land athletic athletic scholarships, but it provides a caring, caring, family-like atmosphere for children of all ages and abilities. Recreational programs begin for children children as young as 18 months, with levels increasing all the way to National Elite, where athletes like Vaculik and Habbib have modified school schedules in order to accommodate their intense training. A visit to the club, located by the Oshawa Airport on Stevenson Road, shows a small and very dedicated group of coaches working with an often- largc and always-cnthusiastic group of pupils. The students pick up valuable life lessons on such things as discipline, dedication and perseverance. And, it seems, enough hardware to fill a hangar. Brian McNair's column appears every thinI Wednesday. E-mail: bmcnair@durhamreyhm.com