Lee, Barrington persevere to win regional

Barrington senior Jessica Lee has certainly had her share of injuries and illnesses during her four years.

A left elbow injury interupted her freshman season.

Her sophomore season ended with a torn ACL, and mono slowed her junior season.

This year, she has grinded through a torn meniscus that she will require surgery on after the season.

But Lee was able to erase four years of frustration on Wednesday night at the Barrington girls gymnastics regional, combining with junior Abby Hasanov to lead the host Fillies to the regional title with an impressive 146.125.

Lee, performing in her first all-around of the season, took second with 36.525.

She took fifth on the floor (9.0), tied for fourth on vault (9.25) and added an exclamation point to her night by hitting an Ariel full dismount to take first on the beam (9.775).

"That's the first time I've stuck that beam routine this season," Lee said. "I've just been going day by day, hoping everything will be fine. To stick it was special."

Lake Park took second with 135.50 points followed by Buffalo Grove (131.10) and Elk Grove (118.625).

Barrington produced its second-best mark of the season and joined Prospect and Fremd as automatic qualifiers at the Lake Park sectional at 6 p.m. on Feb. 12.

While Lee provided a bit of inspiration to the Fillies' attack, Hasanov definitely supplied the fire in taking first in the all-around (37.725).

The junior counted a fall on the bars (8.925) to start the evening off but still took second place.

Hasanov then turned it up a notch on the final three events taking first on the vault (9.65), hitting a double pike on her first pass to take first on the floor (9.65) and collecting a big save on her jump series to take second on the beam (9.5).

"After the bars I wanted to pick it up the rest of the meet," said Hasanov, who has been flirting with a 38.0 on the all-around. "That's my goal."

After struggling a bit on the opening bars series, Barrington definitely turned on the switch to finish.

Junior Molly Blanke continued to impress by taking fourth in the all-around (35.625), tying for fourth on vault (9.25) and adding a fourth-place finish on beam (8.875)

Senior Jada Jones kept things rolling with a third-place finish on vault (9.275) and tying for third on floor (9.025).

Sophomore Hayley Nilles added third-place finishes on bars (8.9) and beam (8.975), with sophomore Rachel Timperman tying for third on floor (9.025)

Momentum is on Barrington's side heading into the sectional.

"We've been waiting for this and we've definitely got more," said Barrington coach Jason Loeffler of the Fillies' attack. "We're putting things together at the right time."

Jacob senior Allison Riedel is no stranger to the state series.

She qualified for the state meet in her first three years and looks on pace to keep things rolling this season.

Riedel took third in the all-around (36.375) and despite a fall on beam had a pretty solid night.

She took first on bars (9.025) and added second-place finishes on vault (9.4) and floor (9.525).

"I've had to water down a few things since sophomore year," said Riedel, who suffered a foot injury at the sectional meet that season. "But mentally I'm just as strong, if not stronger. I've learned to fight through everything and almost nothing can stop me."

Lake Park entered the meet on a high note after finishing second at the DuPage Valley Conference meet.

However the Lancers suffered a blow when senior all-around Linnae Capuder was held out due to a high fever.

Freshman Kelly Zehnder picked up the slack, taking fifth in the all-around (34.85).

She added a fourth-place finish on vault (8.675) and sixth-place finish on floor (8.975).

"We definitely could have done better with Linnae," added Zehnder, who has impressed in her first year of high school gymnastics, which included a third-place finish in the all-around at the DVC meet. "Each meet I'm feeling more and more comfortable and tonight was a good experience."

Buffalo Grove junior Diandra Duenser has been eyeing a berth at the state meet this season, and she took a step forward by taking sixth in the all-around (34.80).

Duenser had a strong finish, including hitting a Wolf three-quarters jump in taking fifth place on beam (8.725).

"Landing that gave me the confidence I could do this routine," Duenser said. "I've seen a difference in my confidence this year and state is definitely a reality."

Elk Grove continues to make progress, with sophomore Angel Skuse playing a big part. She had a solid all-around performance (32.0) in pacing the Grenadiers' attack.

"I've been working hard and I'm feeling more comfortable," said Skuse, who had solid floor routine. "Each meet I gain more experience."