About this Article

For Elk Grove junior Amelia Rafferty, there is no time like the present. After missing out on the girls gymnastics state meet last season, the Grenadiers junior has come back with a vengeance this time around. Rafferty rolled to the all-around title at the Mid-Suburban League meet in late January. She kept the momentum going at the Prospect regional and capped her postseason surge by qualifying for state meet in three events and the all-around at the Fremd sectional on Feb. 4.She’ll be a major player at this weekend’s state meet at Palatine High School, beginning with Friday’s preliminaries which start at 5 p.m. And the switch from spectator to participant is a welcome change.