Shimon, Miller spark Schaumburg to MSL win

Brooke Shimon entered the season for Schaumburg gymnastics team with a broken right ankle, relegating the junior to being a passenger at the early meets.

But Shimon has come back strong and now is driving the Saxons to new heights.

Shimon rode shotgun with sophomore Ashley Miller at Thursday's Mid-Suburban League triangular, propelling the Saxons to the victory with a season-high 141.5 points in Schaumburg.

Elk Grove took second with 121.2 points, followed by Hoffman Estates (113.25).

Miller (36.85) and Shimon (36.65) went 1-2 in the all-around.

Shimon was only participating in her second all-around of the season, and the junior showed no ill-effects from her injury. She took first on the bars (9.4) and floor (9.1), adding a pair of second-place finishes on the beam (9.05) and vault (9.1).

"It's exciting because I didn't really lose anything," said Shimon, who was state qualifier last season on floor. "I thought it would be a lot harder to get back into it, and I didn't know if I'd be 100 percent. Now it's reachable and what I worked for is coming back."

Miller has had no letdown in a breakthrough season. The sophomore took first on the vault (9.5) and beam (9.15), and added a pair of second-place finishes on the bars (9.3) and floor (8.9).

Miller once again flashed her Tkatchev release on the bars, but just missed her regrasped. The skill is a major release and Miller is closing in on it.

"I'm getting frustrated," said Miller, who nailed it earlier this month at the Larkin Invite. " I do it everyday in practice and I catch it everyday."

Caitlin Barrett has also been stepping up big for the Saxons. The junior took third on the bars (8.35), beam (8.95) and floor (8.8) on Thursday, tightening up the Saxons' attack.

Schaumburg has made plenty of progress since the early part of the season, and coach Jami Stilling still thinks the best is yet to come.

"We have all the girls back, now we just have to focus on cleaning thing up," Stilling said. "We're still not doing all of our skills, but the skills we are doing we're not hitting 5-for-5. We need to tighten and clean things up."

Elk Grove and Hoffman Estates both came into the meet a bit short-handed.

The Grenadiers were without junior Emily Hennessy, who is out with ligament damage in her left leg, but there was no slowing senior Christine Baldovin.

Baldovin took third in the all-around (34.7), adding a third place on the vault (9.0).

"Seems like I'm progressing pretty well this season," said Baldovin, a two-time sectional qualifier. "As a team I think we're bouncing back from Emily's injury pretty well."

Hoffman was without three varsity members, including top scorer senior Trina Pasco. But senior Jenna McCreary hit an 8.3 on the vault.

"A 113 in the scorebook doesn't compare to what some of the other teams have been doing," said Hoffman coach Dave Calisch, whose team had two freshmen competing in their first varsity meet. "Everybody was challenged a bit more than they usually are, and they did a great job."

Postseason schedule: Schaumburg, which is hosting a sectional Monday, Feb. 8, will also be the site of the Mid-Suburban League meet Friday, Jan. 29th. On Monday, Feb. 1, the fourth-seeded Saxons will host a regional. Third-seed Prospect will host a regional Feb. 2, top-seeded Fremd hosts a regional Feb. 3 and second-seed Palatine hosts a regional Feb. 4. All of the above regionals feed into the Schaumburg sectional.