No local teams, but DuPage still well represented

There are gymnasts who have spent their high school years competing for their school, such as Glenbard North's Meghan Court and Glenbard East's Andrea Petruniak.

There is one who has won countless all-around titles in dual meets and invitationals the past couple years, like Naperville North's Sami Piotrowski.

And there are gymnasts who finally gave high school gymnastics a whirl this winter, such as Glenbard West's Courtney Gonzales and Wheaton North's Sarah Beste.

Regardless, one thing is for certain -- this weekend's IHSA state girls gymnastics finals will be represented well by area athletes, especially with nine seniors qualifying.

"I think this is a good way to end the careers of these seniors," Glenbard West coach Carlos Fuentes said. "They've all had good success at the high school level and club, and having them persevere and make it this far and now come together for one last time is kind of nice."

"It's definitely exciting for them to make it during their last year," Glenbard East coach Jessica Stob said. "I know (Petruniak is) real excited to go and see all the people from the area compete with her."

There are 10 DuPage County schools represented at the state meet in Palatine, beginning at 12:30 p.m. today with preliminaries on the vault and uneven parallel bars. The preliminaries conclude at 6:30 p.m. today with the beam and floor exercise.

While no area teams will battle for team supremacy, 15 area gymnasts will have an opportunity to compete, and nearly half qualified as all-arounders. While the all-around title will be determined tonight, the top 10 competitors in each event will qualify for the individual event finals Saturday evening.

Piotrowski, Beste, Gonzales, Court, Petruniak, York's Jackie Stefani and Glenbard North's Amber Fox will all compete in the all-around. All but Fox are seniors.

Piotrowski scored a 37.975 in last Thursday's Neuqua Valley sectional and her score was the second-best among all of the all-around sectional scores. Piotrowski also tied for the top floor exercise score at 9.725 and was among the top three on vault and bars.

"If she hits she'll definitely be in the top five in the all-around," Naperville North coach Chris Stanicek said. "As far as individual events, her biggest chances are in the floor and vault. But she has a beam routine that if she stays, she'll get rewarded."

Piotrowski finished fourth on a beam and fifth on vault last year.

"I'm excited for her and that people will see what she's really capable of doing," Stanicek said. "They know her name and her scores and she's the type of gymnast that is exciting to watch. You know she's really enjoy what she's doing, plus she thrives on competition. I think she'll be able to do very well."

Court and Fox will represent Glenbard North in the all-around, while freshman Christina Rini will get her feet wet on bars.

"We're disappointed to not be there as a team, but with two all-arounders and a third gymnast, and with a good chance of performing well, it's good for the girls and the program," Glenbard North coach Edsel Clark said. "And if Meghan can perform like she's capable, this could be a great cap to her career."

Fox had a 9.750 vault that dazzled the crowd at the Neuqua Valley sectional, which also tied for the second best sectional vault score. Rini's 9.1 earned her an at-large berth.

"If Amber can do it again she'll be in the state finals on Saturday night and that would be great," Clark said. "For Christina it'll be a great experience for her, and fun for her to go with two of her teammates."

If Gonzales can score like she did on vault and floor exercise during the Neuqua Valley sectional, then she stands a good chance of advancing to Saturday.

"We knew the sky was the limit with her," Fuentes said. "It didn't take her long to adjust and I expect her to do well. She hadn't fallen off beam since mid-December (she fell last Thursday). She's a great competitor and wants to do well."

Joining her is Rebecca Stephan, whose hard work throughout the year earned the senior a chance to compete on the beam at Palatine.

"She never missed practices or open gyms and most of these qualifiers are ranked as Level 9 and Level 10 and she's a Level 7," Fuentes said. "She never makes excuses and put in a lot of hours."

Beste's 9.7 beam was the second highest coming out of the sectionals, while Petruniak's 9.450 tied for the fourth best. If both can continue to perform at such an elite level they should compete Saturday night. Hinsdale Central's Colleen Morgan's 9.525 on bars tied her for the third-highest score in the sectionals, so she'll aim for a top finish there.

"The end of the season has been one of the best for (Andrea)," Stob said. "She got a first at a regional and had never placed before in sectional so it's been great. She's just going to go in with confidence that she can hit her routines."

It will be a final opportunity for Waubonsie Valley's Cassy Waldman and Naperville Central's Christina Tardy to compete. Both seniors, Waldman will give it a go on vault and bars and Tardy will give it a shot on bars.

The final three area competitors are underclassmen who qualified in single events. Hinsdale Central freshman Erin Usher (vault), Neuqua Valley sophomore Heather Summers (bars) and Naperville North's Carolyn Filarski (bars) all will make their first state appearance. Fortunately for Filarski it looks as if she'll be able to overcome an ankle injury and compete.

"She was on crutches on Monday and Tuesday but was without them Wednesday," Stanicek said. "So we'll see what happen, but I think she'll be able to throw a dismount and be fine with it."

Come late Saturday night, we'll see who was most fine in the state finals.