Ultimate Gymnasts shine at Big Dream Classic meet
Submitted by Jane Feely
They were words of high praise indeed: "Outstanding performance" was how Ultimate Gymnastics Head Coach Shane Sanders summed up his team's showing at the recent Big Dreams Classic meet.
"Ultimate Gymnastics dominated the weekend, winning five out of the eight team competitions," Sanders said. "This is a true testament of the hard work from all of our athletes and coaches."
Those first-place team awards went to the girls who compete at Level 3, 4, 5, 7 and 10, plus the Level 6 girls placed second at the meet held in Burr Ridge.
Nowhere was the Ultimate dominance more on show than in the Level 4 session. In the Child B age group, the Gurnee-based gym took the top four spots in the all-around competition with Ana Raquel first, Anna Becker second, Payal Sutaria third and Lain Montoya fourth.
Anna Becker took the bars and beam titles, while Ana Raquel come out on top on floor.
In the Junior B group it was another strong finish, with Madeline Medica first and Sophie Prozument second. Between them, the two girls claimed all four event titles, too.
At Junior A, Lucia Rodriguez came home with four gold medals and a bronze, while in the Child A group Peri Arkin won the bars title and Isabella Ross placed first on floor.
Ultimate's most senior gymnasts continued their strong season with a string of notable successes. At Level 9, Carrie Grumhaus placed first on vault, bars and beam and took the all-around title, while teammate Bailee Hardy was runner-up on floor and third on bars.
At Level 10, Ally Hoyer's 37.275 all-around score put her on top in the Junior B age group, with Lauren Marshall third. Ally also took the bars and floor title. Teammate Emily Basara won gold on beam and floor and placed first in the all-around in the Senior division.
Meanwhile, another Basara - younger sister Lyndsey - was on form in the Level 7 session. In the Junior B age group she placed first on vault and floor exercise and was runner-up in the all-around.
The Level 7 girls scored strong in the Senior B age group taking four of the top five all-around places. Kylie Skie came out on top and took gold on beam and floor exercise. Jessica Pasquesi was third all-around, Leah Medenwaldt fourth and Gabrielle Panlaqui fifth. Gabrielle's sister, Sabrina, took two event titles, bars and floor, in the Senior A division.
At Level 6, it was a sweep of gold for Ultimate in the Senior B group. Lea Alatzakis took three of the four event titles, while teammate Delaney Jones claimed the top spot on beam. Lea and Delaney also took gold and silver, respectively, in the all-around.
In the Junior B age group, Olivia Roebuck placed first on beam and floor and second all-around. There were also gold medals for Riley Finnegan on floor and Daniella Strauss on beam in the Senior A group.
When it was the Level 3 team's chance to shine, the girls rose to the challenge with all-around titles going to Chloe Byrne (Child B) and Maddie Friel (Junior B). In the Child A group, Julia Blasinski came out on top on uneven bars and tied with Sarah Arends for first place on floor.
Meanwhile, Jillian Ellenwood took the vault title. There were also two gold medals for Madison Miks and a bronze for Emily Chabraja in the Junior A group, and a silver for Annika Chudy on floor in the Child B division.
At Level 5, Carlyn Berke placed first all-around in the Junior A age group, with teammate Gianna Pasquesi runner-up. Carlyn also took gold on bars and floor, while Gianna was top on beam.
In the Junior B division Jordan-Ann Scott was runner up in the all-around, a feat matched by Kayleigh Glickely in the Child B group. Jordan-Ann also claimed gold on bars.
Two members of the Level 8 team brought home five gold medals between them. Sylvia Raquel came out on top on beam, floor and in the all-around in the Junior B age group, while Ximena Gomez won gold on bars and floor in the Senior B age group. She was also runner-up in the all-around.
• To submit Your news, send it to nbrcalendar@dailyherald.com with the subject "Your news."