The final payoff for Wheaton co-op
The Wheaton co-op boys gymnastics team was disappointed because it didn't qualify for the IHSA state team finals.
The team didn't sulk, though, and during Saturday's individual championships the lone two Wheaton co-op gymnasts who qualified put forth an effort that was simply unforgettable.
During preliminaries Tim Krueger finished 10th in the all-around with a 52.1 and advanced to three event finals, while Clark Kessery took 16th in the all-around with a 51.350 and qualified for the high bar.
"We had a nice little break between sessions, and I used that time to clear my mind and focus on the three events I had to do," Krueger said. "It just happened that these three events are my best events."
Not only are they Krueger's best, but he was as good as or better than anyone to do them Saturday night. He tied Naperville Central's Keith Lage for the floor exercise title at 9.65 before capturing the vault and parallel bars.
"Going into it with only three to do and winning each final, wow," Krueger said. "All the hard work from the season is all paying off now."
Kessery, a senior with a stated goal of finishing in the top 10 in an event, took home a fifth-place medal on high bar to conclude Wheaton co-op's strong performance.
"The guys performed so well today," Wheaton coach Chad Downie said. "Clark scored a season high in prelims and then took fifth, and Tim finished 10th in all-around and won all three of his events. I'm just terribly excited for both of those guys."
In addition to sharing the floor exercise title with Krueger, Lage won still rings, took second on high bar and was third in the all-around.
"I was aiming for a top five in all-around so I was very happy with that," Lage said. "I was most happy with rings as I had one of my best rings routines and then I would've liked to have done better on pommel horse."
Dominance on still rings was something Lake Park was known for this season, so it made a whole lot of sense that one of its gymnast would be among the elite scorers. Junior Gary Soper finished tied for second place with St. Charles North's Bryan Beth with a 9.2.
"It feels great. I know a lot of hard went into this, a lot of tough practices and a lot of up and downs," Soper said. "But when you push through everything it just feels great."
Fenton sophomore Roger Kopp made a nice debut in the finals, heading home with a fifth-place medal for his 9.3 on vault.
Glenbard West's Ryan Webster, Greg Mladucky and Alex Pejor, Addison Trail's Calvin Cheney and Nick Ostapa, Glenbard North's Ryan Vandenack and Lake Park's Mike Hannigan all advanced out of the preliminaries and competed in at least one finals event but didn't earn a medal.