Boys gymnastics / Scouting Cook County
Top gymnasts: Barrington: Danny Cameron (Sr.), Nolan Presmyk (Jr.), Steve Abbott (Sr.); Buffalo Grove: Eugene Blackmon (Sr.), Erik Balko (Sr.), Kyle Siebert (Sr.), Kyle Chamberlain (Sr.); Conant: Steven Rink (Sr.), Bill Belmonte (Jr.), Thomas Palm (Jr.); Elk Grove: Nick Alcazar (Sr.), Damion Zukowski (Sr.); Hersey: Evan Reynolds (Sr.), Jake Priester (Sr.), Zak Whitehead (Sr.); Fremd: C.J. Patton (So.), Quin Bley (Jr.), Bobby Wongkamalasai (Jr); Hoffman Estates: Jake Santiago (Jr.), Nick Cannella (Jr.), Palatine: Damian Przystal (Sr.), Jonah Hinz (So.); Prospect: Mike Senft (Sr.), Cullen Williams (Sr.); Rolling Meadows: Marc Herff (Sr.), Declan Delaney (Sr.), Dylan Rust (So.); Schaumburg: Alex Lin (Sr.), Chris Stehlin (Jr.), Jordan Colovos (Sr.)
2010 MSL Meet standings: 1. Conant 155.95; 2. Fremd 148.75; 3. Palatine 148.00; 4. Elk Grove 138.75; 5. Buffalo Grove 136.45; 6. Prospect 132.45; 7. Schaumburg 131.20; 8. Rolling Meadows 130.80; 9. Hersey 124.05, Hoffman Estates 116.70 11. Barrington 111.90.
Can Pirates return to the top?: Last spring, Conant won the MSL title to end a run of three straight crowns by Palatine. No doubt, the Pirates would love to get the title back in their hands. Until last season, Palatine had won seven straight MSL West titles under 11-year coach Scott Hagel. Can Palatine re-establish its supremacy in the MSL? “A lot depends on our depth,” Hagel said. “I still want to see other scores from the teams in our conference. Fremd and Conant will have decent seasons. If we can avoid injuries, we have a shot at conference. It’s our goal as well as making the top eight at state.” Defending champ Conant features Steven Rink, who is the only returning gymnast in the MSL who was among the top 28 state finishers in the all-around. Conant freshman Joey Mauk was 15th in the state all-around last year (52.2) but chose to skip his sophomore high school season to participate with his club team. Rink, Mauk and graduated all-arounder Anthony Crivolio helped Conant finish third in the state meet last season with a score of 154.50 behind runner-up Lincoln-Way East (158.45) and champion Stevenson (162.45). “We look forward to getting back in shape and steadily improving throughout the course of the season,” said Cougars coach Paul Kim.
Returning MSL champ: Elk Grove’s Damian Zukowski is the lone returning individual champ from the 2010 MSL meet held at Fremd High School. Zukowski posted an 8.85 to win the high bar. The senior all-arounder wasted little time asserting himself among fellow league performer this season in that event. Zukowski won the high bar at Thursday’s 21st annual MSL West vs. East Camaraderie Meet at Barrington High School with a score of 9.0, the second highest mark in event that evening behind Buffalo Grove’s Eric Balko, who put up a 9.2 in winning the vault.
Top returning all-arounders: The top returning MSL all-around performers from last year’s conference meet are Conant’s Steve Rink (51.60), Rolling Meadows’ Marc Herff (50.45), Palatine’s Damian Przystal (49.85), Elk Grove’s Damian Zukowski (46.90), Buffalo Grove’s Eugene Blackmon (45.40), Schaumburg’s Alex Lin (43.60), Hoffman Estates’s Nick Cannella (37.05) and Hersey’s Zak Whitehead (35.80).
Retiring Rubin: Schaumburg veteran coach Howard Rubin is retiring from his head coaching job and teaching position after the season. Rubin has directed the Schaumburg boys program for the past 29 seasons and he was also the Saxons girls coach from 1983 to 1994. A 1971 graduate of Evanston High School, Rubin was a senior on the Wildkits gymnastics team that was third in the state his senior year. A pommel horse specialist, he also competed for a nationally-ranked gymnastics team at Illinois State, where he majored in history. He is now a U.S. history teacher at Schaumburg. Rubin also coached the Oak Lawn boys gymnastics team for six years, giving him a total of 34 for his career. He says one of the best parts of coaching has been seeing three of his former gymnasts go on to coach in the MSL — Conant’s Paul Kim, Rolling Meadows’ Mike Costa and his own assistant Erik Bostrom.
“I was so proud of Paul for getting third place with his team last season,” Rubin said. “And for Mike just getting inducted into the University of Illinois-Chicago Hall of Fame. And Erik has been a great teacher and coach for us.”
Kim was a gymnast for a Schaumburg conference championship team under Rubin. Kim graduated in 1989 and attended Northern Illinois University.
After competing for Rubin, Costa went on to become the first University of Illinois-Chicago gymnast to qualify for the nationals four straight times.
“He (Rubin) changed a lot of our lives,” Costa said. “A lot of guys I know today who competed for him learned a lot from him. Now that I am a coach myself, I can really appreciate all the personal sacrifices he made for us. I probably would not have gone on to UIC and accomplished what I did if were not for his instruction.”
Dean of the West: Hoffman Estates coach Scott Phillips will retire from teaching after the school year but would like to continue as the Hawks coach. Phillips is beginning his 32nd season as the head boys coach. A science teacher who graduated from Elk Grove High School in 1973, Phillips was also the Hoffman girls varsity coach for 16 seasons.
Will be missed: Coach Pat Kivland, who directed the Prospect program for the past 36 seasons, has stepped down from the post. He was the dean of MSL coaches. He has also been a boys and girls diving coach and girls golf coach at Prospect. Kivland began coaching the boys gymnastics team at Prospect in 1971. He retired from the physical education department in 2004. His teams were MSL champs in 2004 and ‘05. Kivland is a former gymnast at Prospect, where he placed second in the all-around at the 1965 state meet. He also set numerous records when he was a gymnast at Indiana University.
Prospect’s new coach: Former Addison Trail standout gymnast Randy Smith is the new Prospect coach but he hardly unfamiliar to the MSL circles. Smith was the head coach at Conant in 2009 and has been an assistant in the Hersey and Fremd programs. He is also Prospect’s varsity girls coach. “I’ve been kind of a utility coach in the MSL,” he said with a smile. Smith was also the head boys coach at his high school alma mater in 2003. He was a state qualifier on the high bar his senior year at Addison Trail and the Blazers qualified for state his junior season. One of Smith’s top gymnasts this season, senior Mike Sneft, is expected out of action for four to six weeks with a broken hand. Sneft, who went to state last year in the floor exercise (8.45), recently suffered a grip-lock injury on the high bar.