Corcoran stands out, but Fremd wins West

Beating Fremd's Mary Burke in the all around?

Can't be done.

Or can it?

Burke scored a perfect 10 on vault on Wednesday, where for the last two years she has thrown a Yerchenko layout.

But Burke couldn't match scores from Palatine's Rachel Corcoran's on balance beam (9.6-9.3) or floor exercise (9.7). In those events, Burke didn't place in the top three.

Corcoran defeated Burke 38.7-38.65 in the all around. But to Burke, that paled in comparison to her team's 146.7-144.375 victory over the Pirates. Schaumburg was third with a 122.7.

That means that with Fremd's wins over both Conant and Palatine, the Vikings repeat as MSL West Division champions.

"Mary is a team player," said Fremd coach Jim Guest. "The team comes first. This is not a grudge match."

Did Guest think the meet would be this close after scoring 148 while winning the New Trier invitational on Saturday?

"No. I've always respected the coaches at Palatine," Guest said. "I think they did spectacularly. They're one of the top eight teams in the state. I've said that since day one."

Palatine coach Terry Theobald, for the most part, enjoyed watching his team perform.

"Rachel had a great meet. She's just raring to go. She focuses and that's the difference," Theobald said. "I'm happy with the 144. Emily Piasecki did her first Tsuk vault ever and started us off with a 9.1. We're pretty consistent.

"Beam -- that's our nemesis … Now it's time to put in some tricks."

Schaumburg wasn't too pleased with its effort.

"I fell on the balance beam on my aerial," said Schaumburg freshman Brooke Shimon. "This meet was about throwing all my tricks and I basically threw them all well."