Fremd survives Schaumburg's challenge

Fremd was served a wake-up call and Schaumburg's Ashley Miller continued a dream season at the Mid-Suburban League gymnastics meet Friday night.

The alarms were sounding for Fremd after an uncharacteristic performance on the balance beam, and the Vikings trailed host Schaumburg 107.05-106.95 entering the final rotation.

But Fremd rose to the occasion, scoring a 36.975 on the floor, the final event, to secure its 21st MSL title by edging Schaumburg 143.925-143.150.

"It was close," said Fremd coach Jim Guest. "I knew that coming in. It was their gym and the crowd was fired up. If we're going to continue to advance to the state series we're going to have to correct some things."

Prospect took third with 139.10, followed by Barrington (138.10) and Hersey (136.675).

Miller thrilled the home crowd by taking first in the all-around with 37.575 points. The sophomore became the first Saxon to win the MSL all-around since Cheryl Kosak in 1987.

Miller awed the crowd by nailing her Tkatchev release and taking first on the bars with a 9.755. The sophomore added thirds on the vault (9.325) and floor (9.5), with a sixth on beam (9.0) in an eye-opening performance.

"I'm very happy with how my year has gone so far and I just hope it keeps getting better," said Miller, who did not flinch on her regrasp after the major release on bars. "I just kept thinking about hitting my routine like I do in practice, I just blocked out everything and just focused on me and the bar."

Fremd had to refocus after four falls on the beam, but was solid on the floor to nail down the victory.

Sophomore Elizabeth Uhrich led the charge, finishing fourth on the floor (9.4).

"We walked into the meet knowing it was going to be an extremely difficult meet," said Uhrich. "But we knew we were solid on the floor."

Sophomore Stephanie Uhrich (36.40) and senior Caitlin Golota (36.30) finished fourth and fifth in the all-around for Fremd.

Golota was performing in her first all-around of the season and took second on the bars (9.475) and fourth on the vault (9.225)

"We knew what we had worked for all year, we just had to pick it up," said Golota who led on the floor with a solid 9.0. "We did some really good things tonight but there are some things we still need to work on."

Stephanie Uhrich added a third place for the Vikings on the beam (9.1).

Schaumburg proved it is for real and continued it's late season charge with a season-best performance. Brooke Shimon aided the Saxons by taking first on the floor (9.55) and fifth on the bars (9.225).

"We've had high pressure practices all week and it paid off," said Shimon of the Saxons attack. "Even our first girls hit for us, which we needed to do to get the ball rolling."

Junior Caitlin Barret stepped up big for the Saxons, especially on the floor (9.10)

"It was huge," said Schaumburg coach Jami Stilling. "I'm so proud of them, they performed exactly the way we've been practicing. I couldn't have written it any better-it was perfect."

Buffalo Grove senior Linda Dunne recovered from a slow start to take second in the all-around (36.950), taking first on the vault (9.45) and beam (9.225), adding a third on the bars (9.325).

"Every event was a new event," said Dunne, who started the night with an 8.95 on the floor. "I just took one event at a time."

Wheeling senior Amy Burke took third in the all-around (36.875), taking second on the vault (9.35), fourth on the beam (9.075), and fifth on the floor (9.35).

"It definitely came out better than I anticipated," added Burke of her performance.

Senior Katie Colmone led Prospect taking fourth on the bars (9.25) and fifth on the vault (9.125). Junior Lexi Marsella propelled Barrington taking second on the floor (9.525) and adding a fifth on the beam (9.025).

Freshman Nicole Kuksuk took second for Palatine on the beam (9.175).