Boys gymnastics: No team, no problem for Neuqua Valley's Mitchell
Eric Mitchell had so much fun last year that he decided to come back.
What he doesn't have is a boys gymnastics team, although he's allowed to compete individually and represent Neuqua Valley.
He showed that he's one of the state's finest gymnasts. Mitchell won the all-around during Saturday's Hinsdale Central sectional with a 52.15. He also won the pommel horse and took second on parallel bars and high bar.
"It went really well, although I wish some of my other routines could've been a little cleaner," he said. "I did well on pommel horse, which is my favorite event so I'm glad I did well on that."
Mitchell had a concussion during his club season but was able to still make it to nationals. The timing of the sectional and next week's state finals fit into his schedule.
"I had such a good time last year so I thought I would come back," he said. "The friendly, relaxed atmosphere is so different than club where it's more scheduled and serious. Now I'm just taking it one step at a time and looking forward to next week."
Hinsdale Central edged Mundelein 151.3 to 150.55 to qualify for state for the first time since 2013.
Nemmekhbayar Altandush and Nolan Holmes had huge meets for the Red Devils. Holmes won parallel bars, was second on floor and placed sixth in the all-around with a 47.6. Altandush was second on pommel horse, fourth on high bar and had a pair of fifth-place efforts on still rings and vault.
"We knew it would be close and it's been a roller coaster these last couple of years with injuries," Holmes said. "It was the first sectional we hosted since 2010, so it had been awhile. I'm so happy for our seniors. I didn't want them to go out without going to state. This is amazing."
Ryan Leahy and Zhiyi Zhy had strong efforts on pommel horse while Alex Roca was fourth on parallel bars for the winners.
"The key today was our week of practice," Holmes said. "On Monday we told ourselves this is the first week of practice. We didn't want to worry about anything that happened already this season. Just go out and hit routines again and again and again and that's how we had our best meet of the year."
Tyler Collins and Greg Godellas paced the runner-up Mustangs. Collins also won high bar while teammate Yianni Wiechering was third on parallel bars.
Hinsdale South took third with a 143.3 as Kwame Lipscomb took second in the all-around.
Other area teams included Downers Grove North (142.25), Naperville North 134.6) and Naperville Central (116.75).
Huskies sophomore Michael Hunter Jr. tied for third on vault with a 9.3 to earn his first trip to state.
"I was just trying to get through this season and it was a big surprise to make varsity to begin with," he said. "I think I dedicate this to the coaches who trained me through this. I'm happy I have the honor to go to state as a sophomore. I think it's really going to be a great experience."
Tyler Collins and Greg Godellas paced the runner-up Mustangs. Collins also won high bar while teammate Yianni Wiechering was third on parallel bars.
"I'm proud of how the guys competed today," Mustangs coach Jesse Piland said. "We knew that Hinsdale Central had the best chance to win today, but we were hoping that the two of us would push hard and hopefully both of us would get in."
The Mustangs just missed out on landing the final at-large qualifier. That ended up going to Wheaton Warrenville co-op's 151.25.
"The message to our guys was we could only control one thing, and that was our routines," Piland said. "We had a few stumbles here and there, but they performed as well as they could and we just had to trust that we were good enough and see what happens."
The Mustangs just came up short of being good enough.
The other two at-large qualifiers were Buffalo Grove (152.55) and Schaumburg (151.45).