Stevenson overcomes injury to three-peat
Reigning state champion Stevenson captured a painful, heart-stopping three-peat Thursday.
The Patriots won their third straight North Suburban Conference girls gymnastics crown in Lincolnshire, hitting 144.15 to edge Lake Forest (143.75) and Warren (143.1).
"Were still in it for the fun of it," said Patriots coach Judy Harwood. "It might be a miracle how we're doing it. It's been a season-long goal for us to win the conference."
During warm-ups, Patriots all-arounder Caitlin Pagano fell off the uneven parallel bars doing a Gienger and landed on her elbow. Pagano made a trip to the hospital and missed most of the meet but returned in a sling before her team finished its last rotation on floor.
"I'm OK," said Pagano, who will visit a doctor today. "I dislocated my elbow. I just landed on it and the elbow went out."
Pagano's return inspired the Patriots to a meet-best 36.3 on floor exercise.
Alison Castriano had the second-best score (9.45) behind Lake Forest's Kylie Carlson (9.6), and Stevenson's Theresa Wojton finished third (9.35).
"Seeing Caitlin (Pagano) come back pushed us and we pulled through," Castriano said. "All meet long, we had it in our minds that we wanted to win it for Caitlin.
Castriano also finished third in the all-around with a season-high 38, Castriano, who is also battling an injury, placed second on beam (9.7), third on bars (9.45) and third on vault (9.4).
"I've got a torn meniscus in my left knee and will have surgery a week after state," Castriano said. "It happened over the holiday break. I was starting to feel pain after the Oswego Invitational."
Wojton placed third in the all-around (36.2) and fifth on beam (9.05), and Rebecca Feltman-Frank finished fifth on bars (9.05).
NIU-bound Kim Gotlund (38.15) of Warren was second in all-around behind Carlson (38.3) of Lake Forest. Gotlund had a fall on floor for a 8.95 on her first event. But Gotlund bounced back to take first places in the other three events that included personal bests on beam (9.8), vault (9.75) and bars (9.65).
"I thought I came back," Gotlund said. "I'm just disappointed with what happened on my first pass (floor). I just have to work on consistency in all events."
The Blue Devils' Katie Vovolka tied for fourth with Lake Forest's Carolina Carmichael on vault (9.25) and took fifth on floor (9.2). Warren's Kelci Schulz placed fourth on beam (9.4).
Libertyville's Leah Herchenbach picked up a medal for fourth place on floor (9.3).
Fallon Faia of Vernon Hills couldn't complete her first event on the floor because she became dizzy. Faia, who has been able to compete after being treated for vascular migraines, did not finish the meet.
"Faia's first pass looked pretty good," Vernon Hills coach Denise Caton said. "On the second pass, she couldn't do it and called it quits. We know when this happens, she has to stop, call it a night.
'We've had a lot of sickness running around the team. We'll give it a few days and go from there. We do have some time before the regionals."