Girls gymnastics: Stevenson's Weinstein doesn't hesitate

A few months back, Emily Weinstein wasn't sure she would be ready to make her varsity debut by the time the gymnastics season started.

The Stevenson freshman broke a couple of bones in her left arm over the summer. But Wednesday night, she competed in two events at Libertyville. She took top honors on floor exercise with an 8.7 and also performed a routine on the balance beam.

Her efforts helped Stevenson get past Libertyville 123.1 to 122.38 in a North Suburban Conference opener.

"I was nervous a bit," Weinstein said. "I broke the arm doing a bail on the bars. I had to have surgery and was just able to come back. I returned working out about four weeks ago."

Her performance on floor was a big plus for the Patriots.

"I was trying to stay positive, even though in warm-ups it didn't go as good," Weinstein said. "I just knew that everything I put into it helped me. As long as I stayed positive, I knew that I could do it."

Riley Polatsek (8.575) and Johnna Geick (8.125) finished second and third on the floor for the Patriots, while Zoe Hinz had the top score (8.15) on beam. Hinz was second in the all-around (30.475), and Polatsek chalked up first on bars (7.6).

"They did a lot of new skills and combinations," Stevenson coach Judy Harwood said. "They were fairly successful. With our score, there's no place but to go up."

Libertyville's Kylie Skie took a year off from gymnasts as a freshman but returned this year. She had the top honors in the all-around (30.675) and also took first place on vault (8.375).

"It's definitely taking some time coming back," Skie said. "After taking some time off, it definitely doesn't feel as comfortable. It's a little awkward. Hopefully, as the season goes on, I can improve and get the feel back. I still have some of my basics, but I don't have my advanced skills quite yet. It's tough to come back because how mental this sport is. A lot of times it can be really scary to try the old skills that I haven't done for so long."

Ima Waseman placed second in the all-around for the Wildcats (30.575). She was also second on beam (8.1) and vault (8.35) and third on bars (7.325). Constance Zanze finished second on bars (7.4), and Emily Agemaura placed third on vault (8).

"We have a couple of new varsity members on the team," Libertyville coach Tiffany Owens said. "I thought they did well. We tried skills that they have not competed before. I thought it was a good opener. We only have room to grow and get better."