Underdog Panthers seeking to complete feel-good story

All that the Glenbard North girls gymnastics team could hope for was a chance to be one of the feel-good stories of the state series. And didn't the Panthers deserve the opportunity as much as anyone in the state?

After finishing second to underdog Batavia in the Glenbard West sectional, the Panthers were forced to wait three days to see if they'd advance to state as an at-large qualifier.

Coach Edsel Clark instructed the team to avoid checking the IHSA Web site to find out the results of the final sectional last Thursday.

Instead, he gathered the team on Friday morning and told all-arounders Marissa Bosco, Amber Fox, Christina Rini and Emily Ryan and specialists Amy Wolf (bars, floor exercise), Michelle Keating (vault) and Karli Gaines (beam) that they had snagged the final team at-large qualifier.

"It was a pretty hard week, especially since we knew that if we would've hit (in the sectional) we would've gotten first," said Fox, who celebrated her 17th birthday on the same day she received the great news. "So we were kind of scared until coach Clark told us we made it."

This kind of drama is nothing knew to a Panthers program that has been filled with ups and downs these past three years. In 2007, Clark's first year running the program, the team advanced to the state finals for the first time since 1985 but had to count a handful of falls and finished in ninth place. In 2008 Bosco went down with a knee injury and the team fell short of qualifying for the state finals.

This season the Panthers have been up and down and battling inconsistent performances. But now that they've made it to the ultimate destination, perhaps they're ready to pull out their best performance of the season.

"We had a fantastic meet at regional (148.775) and even then we didn't hit everything but saw what we're capable of doing," Clark said. "We finished last at state two years ago and we know what that felt like and don't want to repeat that. I think that there's nowhere to go but up, and I think the team knows we're in a great spot."

It's also a last hurrah for Bosco, Wolf and Keating, seniors who will graduate later this year, as well as Clark, who will take an assistant principal position at the new Metea Valley High School in Aurora.

"I get a sense from fellow coaches that a lot of people are pulling for us and I think that's because of the caliber of girls I've been able to coach," Clark said. "They're just really nice girls with good hearts, and those are the people you want to be successful in life.

"Not that we deserve it more than anyone else, but I think some people like to pull for the underdog, the nice guy, so to speak."

Fox and Bosco have been the Panthers' top gymnasts and finished in first and second, respectively, in last week's Glenbard West sectional.

Both have also had some success at state. Bosco won the floor exercise in 2007 and Fox finished fourth in the all-around in 2008. Now they'll need to be at their best, as well as receive similar efforts from their teammates if they wish to be among top teams like Stevenson, Sandburg/Stagg co-op, Carmel and two-time defending champion Fremd.

"After what happened two years ago we now know what to expect," Bosco said. "We're coming in as the last team to get in so that takes off some pressure. We know that we can only go up, and these last couple weeks we've been working really hard. I'm hoping to be at least among the top four and I would love to be on the podium."

And part of a feel-good story.

The state meet takes place at Palatine High School, beginning at 12:25 p.m. Friday with the preliminaries in individual events and the all-around finals. The championship finals will start at 6:25 p.m. Saturday.