Palatine’s Barba makes comeback to state

By Marty Maciaszek

Gymnastics has taught Nicole Barba to take nothing for granted.

When she was a freshman she was part of a Palatine team which competed in the girls state meet. It was reasonable for Barba to figure this was only the first of multiple state trips.

And Barba was there the last two years for the meet annually hosted by her school. But a couple of cruel twists had her working at instead of competing in the meet.

A small sectional misstep had big implications and kept her from competing as a sophomore. The next year Barba suffered what was hardly a minor setback — a broken right ankle which required surgery.

So, now in her final competitive season, Barba can appreciate the degree of difficulty involved in her return to this year’s state meet. She will be part of this evening’s competition on the balance beam after making the cut as an at-large sectional qualifier.

“I’m really excited and really happy,” said Barba, who came back to compete in the all-around this season as one of only two seniors on Palatine’s varsity. “It was a relief that I finally got a chance to do it.”

Even that was fraught with some anxiety as she waited to see if her 9.175 sectional score would be good enough.

“The meet after (Tuesday’s sectional), I honestly didn’t think I was going to make it,” Barba said. “I thought, ‘Oh, yeah, I practiced for nothing.’

“On Wednesday night, no one pushed me down and I started to get more confident.”

When Thursday’s final sectional results came in, Barba realized she had completed her long journey back to competing in the state meet.

“Her working through it helps all the other kids,” said Palatine coach Terry Theobald. “They go, ‘Hey, look at what she had to go through and she’s still going.’ It was a big plus for us.

“We peaked at the end of the season exactly how you’re supposed to and she was a big part of that.”

Barba has also provided a pair of important lessons for Palatine’s younger gymnasts. The first came when she was mere 10ths of a point from qualifying for state on beam as a sophomore.

“The day I found out I didn’t make it — I should have stuck my dismount,” Barba said. “I remember taking a step and I messed up.

“Terry uses it as an example for the rest of the girls. He’ll say, ‘Everything counts. Ask Nicole.’”

The second lesson was more painful physically for Barba. In her junior year meet against cross-town rival Fremd, Barba was vaulting and landed awkwardly with all of her weight on her right ankle.

She heard a pop and knew immediately it was broken. Barba had surgery to put a plate and three screws in the ankle.

“The night it happened, you always go, she’s done,” Theobald said.

Barba was on crutches for about two months before she started her rehabilitation.

“It was really hard and it wasn’t going the way I wanted to,” Barba said.

But when she started working again at Theobald’s summer camp she was pleasantly surprised to find there was no pain and no serious problems with the ankle.

She wound up competing in the all-around again after she started vaulting about halfway through the season.

“We didn’t think she’d ever be back to vaulting, that’s how bad we thought it was,” Theobald said. “We didn’t push it at all because we knew how devastating it was. But after Christmas she decided, ‘I have to go.’”

Going back to the state meet isn’t a bad way to finish a gymnastics career that started when her mom Cindy was looking for a way to channel her 3-year-old daughter’s energy.

Barba, who is in the top 15 percent of her class and scored 25 on the ACT, plans to go to Illinois State to focus on studying elementary education and becoming a grade-school teacher. She is also coaching in the Palatine Park District and hopes to continue doing that as well.

Barba said there is definitely room for improvement this weekend after a sectional beam routine where she admitted she was hit with some nerves. She also understands it’s a longshot to reach Saturday’s finals.

But she’s already overcome some long odds just to get here.

“I’m more excited to be competing with the girls that are the top ones in the state,” Barba said. “I’m just happy I came back and proved it to myself.”

mmaciaszek@dailyherald.com