St. Charles feels no pressure

Not many athletes spent Sunday eating French toast, egg and sausage casserole and banana bread, creating Mardi Gras masks and costumes and fashioning new T-shirts and sweatpants.

But not many teams are like this St. Charles co-op girls gymnastics squad.

The girls began their week of preparation for this weekend's state gymnastics finals at Palatine by gathering for brunch at Colby Conn's house. The Mardi Gras creations were made for an upcoming gymnastics banquet. The T-shirts and sweatpants are solely for this weekend's state competition.

Their day wasn't totally absent of gymnastics thought as they also watching a tape delay broadcast of No. 5 LSU defeating No. 2 Georgia 197.550-195.925.

"We were pretty much diving into the food," all-arounder Daniel Goebbert said. "It was a lot of fun of just celebrating the whole going to state stuff and preparing for the banquet and making pants and shirts."

"We demolished the French toast," junior Liz Fairweather added.

Now they'll look to take care of business this weekend, something they've had great success in doing this season, especially lately.

Preliminaries begin at 12:30 p.m. today in the uneven parallel bars and vault. After a break, the gymnasts will assemble at 6:30 p.m. for balance beam and floor exercise. The final team scores will not be finalized until Saturday when the top 10 finalists in the four events compete with the better of a gymnast's two performance scores added to the team score.

"Just getting through the pressure of the sectional and getting to state was a big accomplishment in itself," St. Charles coach Amy Lill said. "I anticipate them continuing to do what they've been doing. They have nothing to lose at state. Anything now would be icing on the cake."

Goebbert, Fairweather and Stephanie de la Torriente will compete as all-arounders, senior Katie Shanel goes in every event except for bars and Justine Meyers (vault), Courtney Harloff (floor), Meredith Beird (bars), Alyssa Beird (bars) and Conn (bars) are anticipated to compete in single events. Shanel (floor exercise) and de la Torriente (all-around) both competed in the state finals last year.

"This group just respects and loves each other and are truly there for one another," Lill said. "I don't think I could work with a better group of girls. I think they've accomplished so much because they've stuck with it, became unified and had a team vision."

It took some time for St. Charles to find its niche this winter. The team lost Amanda Johnston, a senior and state qualifier last year, for the season with an injury. Along the way there were illnesses, the extended holiday break and Shanel's lingering injury. But the team never quit. Perseverance was stressed and it paid off.

"I always knew it was possible for this team to pull together," Lill said. "We started at 135 and are almost at 146. That's a major accomplishment. Now, to get to state, and have the support of each other, I just couldn't think of a better way to end a season as a team."

As one of eight schools competing for the state title, St. Charles understands where it fits in the scheme of things. While it has consistently scored in the 145-range recently, teams like Fremd, Warren and Stevenson are averaging close to a 148 or higher in their last three meets.

"I feel like I've reached my goal already so there's no stress on me," Shanel said. "We won conference, regional, sectional and scored higher than we've ever scored in my past four years here. I don't think we'll go in and freak out like we have to get third place. Our goal is to hit 4-of-4 and hope to get a 146. If we do, great, if not, no big deal, because we got there."

And they'll have a chance to show the state that although a St. Charles team hasn't advanced to state since 2000 that St. Charles might start becoming a more frequent visitor.

"We've got some motivation to be able to show the other teams how well we can do," Goebbert said. "Our expectations are to go in there and do what we've been doing the past few meets and see where that takes us."

And no matter what happens, these girls we'll enjoy the experience, just as much as they've enjoyed the journey to get to Palatine.

"We're very laid back in gymnastics but once on the equipment we're all business," Fairweather said. "Even when we mess up on the a skill we just leave it behind us and keep our focus on what's ahead. We're just going to have fun and do our best."

Batavia individuals also excited:ŒIt's been 11 long years since someone followed in the footsteps of Laura Jungels and represented Batavia in the state finals, but this year continues to be a special one for the Bulldogs who send junior Allesandra Bronzino and Danae Fuqua to Palatine.

"I think they'll do really well," Batavia coach Taryn Boyce said. "I just see some big, big scores out there but I know they have the skills to do well at state and deserve to be there. I don't know where they'll fit in place-wise but I hope they can go in there and be proud of representing the school."

Bronzino will compete in the evening beam session while Fuqua will vault in the early session and perform her floor routine in the evening.

"I hope they hit their routines," Boyce said. "I can't ask for much more. They have been doing well all season and I want them to go in and do nice clean routines."

Like St. Charles, a Batavia presence into the middle of February could continue into next year.

Bronzino, Fuqua, along with Rebecca Thone and Rachel Besic are all eligible to compete next winter.

"This has been a great season for them and they're going to kick butt again next year," Boyce said. "I'm really hoping these girls have a great experience (at state) and will train hard and be ready for next year to achieve even more."