Record effort from Schaumburg
Schaumburg found itself trailing entering the final girls gymnastics event on Saturday evening at the Prospect Invitational.
The host Knights had already finished hitting a school record 143.0, and the Saxons knew they had their work cut out for them on the beam.
But Schaumburg responded to the challenge, hitting a 37.05 on the beam to secure the title with a school-record 144.875
Prospect took second followed by Rolling Meadows (131.60), Buffalo Grove (125.975), Elk Grove (121.2), and Wheeling (117.40).
Junior Ashley Miller took first in the all-around (36.975) helping the Saxons to second consecutive school record in a span of five days.
“Beam has been our biggest concern,” said Schaumburg coach Jami Stilling. “That has really been the thing that has been breaking us down, but tonight the girls stepped up.”
Caitlin Barret injured her left knee on Tuesday night, and she was limited to two events on Saturday. But the Saxons senior made the most of her limited opportunities by taking second on the beam (9.45).
“We didn't know for sure how close it was, we just knew that every point counted,” said Barrett. “We needed to push for everything.”
It was a total team effort for Schaumburg with Miller taking first on the bars (9.5) and adding a fourth on the beam (9.2), senior Brooke Shimon adding a first on the vault (9.475), second on the floor (9.4), and a fourth on the bars (8.65), and sophomore Erin Barrett contributing a second on the bars (8.8), third on the beam (9.4), and fifth on the floor (9.15).
“We had a few falls here and there,” added Miller of the Saxons performance. “But we pulled it together at the end and definitely hit on beam. We're kicking it into gear for the second half of the season.”
Prospect has also been dialing it up a notch — especially Gianna Scala.
The freshman took second in the all-around (36.7), adding a first with a flawless floor routine (9.55), taking second on the vault (9.45), and adding a pair of fifth-place finishes on the bars (8.6) and beam (9.1) to lift the Knights.
“I just felt really good on the floor, it was one of my best routines,” said Scala. “I'm getting a lot more confident every meet and I just want to keep improving.”
“She's like a well-oiled machine,” said Prospect coach Randy Smith of his freshman star. “She's a hard-core competitor.”
Scala had plenty of help with senior Christina Pekar taking first on the beam (9.5), and sophomore Meggie Kania adding third-place finishes on the vault (9.325) and floor (9.35). Senior Sarah Pekar added a fifth-place finish on the vault (9.225) and junior Lauren Johnson contributed a third-place finish on the bars (8.7).
The only blemish for Prospect was a subpar team performance on the bars.
“We nailed 3 of the 4 events,” added Smith, “They know where they need improvement and they know the effect of it, but at the end of the day it was a good meet for us.”
Junior Lauren Cerza took sixth on the beam (9.2) in helping Rolling Meadows secure third place.
Freshman Amelia Rafferty continued an impressive season by taking fifth in the all-around (35.35), adding a pair of fifth-place finishes on the vault (9.25) and floor (9.2) to lead Elk Grove.