Warren's Basara on winning path

Emily Basara opted to join Warren's girls gymnastics team, and she'll eventually compete collegiately at Northern Illinois.

On both levels, she's following the lead of Warren graduate Kim Gotlund.

And Basara is also achieving at a level similar to that of Gotlund, who finished high school as the state all-around champion.

On Saturday, Basara hit a career-best in winning the all-around with a 38.20 and also had her best vault (9.87) at the Lake County meet held at Lake Forest High School.

"She went to NIU, she went to my old gym and had the same coaches," said Basara of Gotlund. "She was always a good person to look up to and she knows how to compete and was always a good competitor. As I was growing up, I always wanted to be like her. It was fun watching her."

Basara said he learned some practical lessons from paying close attention to Gotlund.

"I think I took from her the part about always getting confident in yourself. She would be calm and would say 'I would get it tomorrow. Everything will be fine, and you don't have to lose your cool.' That part helped and made me realize if anything goes wrong in an event, just to move on and leave it behind me. Just go on to the next one."

Basara also claimed top honors on the uneven parallel bars with a 9.75. She was second on floor (9.8) and fourth on the balance beam (9.4).

Barrington won the meet with a season-best 147.1. Carmel Catholic was runner-up at 145, followed by Mundelein (141.735) and Warren (141.20).

"We've worked hard and I told the girls this is your last hurrah before the conference and the state series," Barrington coach Jason Loeffler said. "I think some of the girls were able to showcase some of their new stuff here. We may have had some falls, but it all worked out for us. I think this puts us in a good spot."

Abby Hasanov was third in the all-around with 37.77. She was consistent most of the meet with a third on floor (9.75), second on bars (9.5) and third on vault (9.67).

"Our teammates had a positive outlook on this meet," Hasanov said. "It definitely helped and we all root for each other and support the team. It was a good time to show what we got."

Barrington's Jessica Lee, working her way back from an ACL injury, competing in three events. She chalked up the top beam routine (9.65) and also competed bars and floor.

"I'm still not doing the vault, but hoping I can do it by the end of the season," Lee said. "My favorite event was beam, because I can get up there and be consistent."

The Fillies' Molly Blanke placed second on vault (9.70) and third on beam (9.45).

Carmel Catholic also hit a season-best score. The Corsairs have a couple of dual meets remaining before regionals begin in a couple of weeks.

"It's something that we've been working for," Carmel Catholic coach Nicole Stroup said. "It's something the girls were working on during the Christmas break. We've been adding new things and cleaning things up that we've been working on for a while."

The Corsairs were led by Sam Lococo, who was second in the all-around (37.9). She was second on beam (9.5), fourth on floor (9.7), fourth on vault (9.65) and in a fifth-place tie with Barrington's Haley Nillies (9.05). Kelly Gustafson placed fifth on beam (9.25).

McKenzie Kehr of Mundelein had a personal best on the floor exercise with (9.85) along with finishing fourth in the all-around (37.73), third on bars (9.3) and fifth on vault (9.53).

"I really put everything into it," Kehr said. "I had new passes and I was a little nervous about it. But I pushed them through it. I just thought it all worked out for me."

Stevenson's Mikaela Webb placed fifth in the all-around (36.55) and took fourth on bars (9.1).

Warren's Teegon Albert took fifth place on floor (9.55).