For Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley co-op, getting up again half the battle

A gymnast doesn't endure the same pain that a teammate does during an injury, but that doesn't mean they're on cloud nine either.

While they're suddenly worrying about their fallen teammate, they've got to regain their focus because now it's their turn to compete.

Just ask Jessica Houghton about it.

The Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley co-op senior found herself with such a challenge on Wednesday night. Visiting DeKalb/Sycamore co-op was en route to an easy victory and would win convincingly, 141.3 to 127.85 but there still was pressure on Houghton to perform after Kaity Stocco fell hard off the balance beam.

"The first thing to go through my mind when Kaity hurt herself was shock and if she was OK," Houghton said. "Then, before I knew it, I had to find my focus and compose myself while I'm thinking about how she's hurt and whether she's going to be OK. I just had to keep going and finish my routine."

Despite the circumstances Houghton seemingly made it look easy, posting a team-high 8.55.

"It was pretty solid," she said. "I still had a few wobbles, but I had a higher score than last time and I added a back handspring, which was very nice."

Houghton also led the team on floor with an 8.5.

"I've been working on my tumbling skills," she said. "Overall, it was a better routine than before."

Marisa Cruz continues to focus primarily on her form when competing on bars. She scored a 7.8 to pace her team.

"It's all about the form for me than the big skills," she said. "I scored lower than usual, so it was an average routine for me. I need to work on more consistent execution."

Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley co-op's strongest event continues to be vault. Its five gymnasts all scored at least an 8.7 with Melissa Martin leading the way with an 8.85. She finished with a 31.4 in the all-around.

"In practice I had worked on raising the vault to get higher and have more time to plan my landing," she said. "The repetition on it in practice has helped me and it showed tonight in my score."

Thalia Bowen led the team in the all-around with a 32.1.

"I think this was one of my higher all-around scores of the season," she said. "Bars continues to be a struggle, but I'll continue to work on it."

With the busy holiday season and finals upcoming, coach Phil Gilmer knows his gymnasts are being stretched to the limit, so he's not overly pushing them. So far he's been pleased with how well they've stayed focused while making gradual progress toward one of the team's goals of surpassing a team score of 130.

"I think if we would've hit beam we probably could've broken a 130, but it's tough to watch a teammate fall. They pushed through it and handled it well," he said. "They've got a lot going on right now so I'm asking them to go out and compete, have a good time and hope for the best.

"In the long run we want to be healthy at the end so for now the biggest thing is teaching these girls teamwork, coming together and stepping up as leaders and they've done a really good job of that."