Burke wins all-around

Fremd senior Mary Burke was the girls gymnastics all-around favorite and for good reason.

She had already won two all-around championships in her first three years competing for the Vikings, and rarely found herself losing anything this season.

But en route to her third all-around title, she found herself looking back at Naperville North's Sami Piotrowski, who pursued her closely for most of the meet.

Halfway through the meet, Burke led Piotrowski 19.6 points to 19.325.

The third event for both gymnasts was the floor exercise. Burke held a 29.125 lead after scoring 9.525 points on floor. Piotrowski earned a 9.6 on floor and had a point total of 28.925.

At that point, the only way Piotrowski could have won is if Burke fell on beam while Piotriowski scored a 9.8 in that event.

Burke had a shaky beam performance and saved three potential falls and earned a 9.6. Piotrowski, the second to last gymnast on beam, had her share of falls in the event, scored an 8.875 and wound up in fifth place.

After her beam routine, Piotrowski stood silently amongst three Glenbard North girls, one of which was the last person in the meet to do her routine.

"I could've done better, but there's tomorrow," said Burke, who knew her team has fared better. "It wasn't my best meet, but I went 4-for-4. I was doing my best to. When things aren't going right, you fight through it. You have to use every muscle."

Burke will try to have a better meet tonight in the finals. Piotrowski didn't seem to mind not unseating Burke as all-around champ.

"Winning it wasn't my goal," Piotrowski said. "I just really wanted to hit 4-for-4.

"Mary Burke is amazing. Beating her wasn't my goal.. My team wasn't here so I just wanted to go 4-for-4 instead of 3-for-4. My goal was to place in the top three in the all-around."