Wheaton co-operates in sectional meet

Last year Wheaton co-op gymnast Tim Krueger put on quite a display in winning three events at the IHSA state gymnastics meet in Barrington.

This year Krueger will have his entire team alongside him to battle for the program's first state title since 2005.

That's because Wheaton dominated Wednesday's Wheaton North sectional to qualify for next weekend's IHSA finals in Frankfort. The hosts scored a 157.80, more than 20 points ahead of runner-up Glenbrook South (136.85) and third-place Niles West (135.6).

"For us making state this year, we knew it wasn't a given and we'd have to work very hard for it," said Krueger, who will compete in the Junior Olympic Nationals in Cincinnati tonight. "All this week we've been preparing and not thinking about making state but just about hitting our routines and going in and doing our best."

Krueger won the floor exercise, vault, parallel bars and tied for first with teammate Mike Brackman on the horizontal bar en route to winning the all-around championship.

"We're definitely looking for the top trophy now," Krueger said. "Now it's just going into the gym and hitting sets and making sure we're fully prepared."

Wheaton's Darren Fill placed second in the all-around. Fill claimed the top prize on the pommel horse.

"We like have a dream team on pommel horse," Fill said. "We know we have to work it everyday and work it harder than any event."

While Wheaton didn't need a strong finish to win the sectional, it finished strong nonetheless with Krueger's 9.65 on parallel bars and Brackman's 9.4 on horizontal bar.

What made Brackman's performance most impressive was that he was unveiling a new horizontal bar routine and nailed it.

"I'm ecstatic right now," Brackman said. "I went 5-for-5 today and a lot of us had the best routines we've ever had and hit in a meet. We feel really good going into state and hope we can do just as good or better."

While Krueger, Fill and Brackman's names were called often during the award ceremony, the team also received excellent contributions from its specialists.

Mike Dieterle tied for third on vault, Mike Ciesielski was fourth in the floor exercise and Steve Wysocki placed sixth in the floor exercise.

"I'm a senior now and have only been doing this since high school, so this is special," Wysocki said. "I'm very happy because it's a lot of work everyday of practicing over three hours."

Addison Trail senior Eddie Chavez represented the Blazers nicely, finishing in the top four on still rings, parallel bars and horizontal bar. He also claimed fourth place in the all-around and will compete in all events in the state finals.

"Coach (Mike Galfi) told me to aim toward my goals of making it to state, and I just buckled down," said Chavez, who qualified on vault and horizontal bar last spring. "I was especially pleased with my rings because it was the first time I hit it as good as this."