Gurnee gymnasts take first at state

With a score like 9.95, you’d think a gold medal was within grasp. Unfortunately for Ultimate Gymnastics’ Allison O’Connell, her amazing 9.95 scoring vault at the recent Level 7 Illinois State championships, came up against one of those very rare gymnastics events: another gymnast scored a perfect 10.0.

So, while Allison had to settle for a silver medal, at least she has the knowledge that her score now stands as the highest ever event score for a gymnast from the Gurnee-based gym.

Allison also added a bronze medal on floor (9.575) and a third-place finish in the all-around in the Senior B age group at the meet, held in Bloomington.

It was a high-scoring state final all-around, but one that still saw the Ultimate Level 7 girls claiming the top spot on the podium. That was certainly the case for the team’s youngest member Ella Peter, competing in the Child A age group. Ella’s outstanding 9.80 on floor exercise and 9.775 on balance beam were enough to claim state gold in these two events, while her all-around score of 38.025 put her in sixth place in what proved to be an incredibly high-scoring age group.

Ultimate’s other Level 7 state gold came in the Senior A age group when Grayslake’s Maddie Jacobs turned in a superbly consistent meet to take first place all-around (38.325). En route to all-around gold, Maddie collected a silver medal on bars (9.525) and a bronze medal on floor (9.725). She also placed fourth on both vault (9.60) and beam (9.475).

There was still more to celebrate when the Level 7 girls placed first in the Senior section of the team event, finishing above such state heavyweights as IGI, Balance Institute and Legacy Elite.

The Junior section of the team finished fifth and, when all the age groups were combined, the Ultimate team placed third in Illinois. However, their scores ranked them as the top gym in the state on both vault and floor exercise.

Other Level 7 highlights included silver medals for Sara Becker on beam and floor and bronze in the all-around in the Senior A age group. Meanwhile, Emily Whitis scored an impressive 9.70 on floor exercise to place second in the Junior A section.

Carli Betman had a great meet in the Senior C age group. She placed second on beam (9.55) and third on vault (9.60). In the same session, teammate Kaylin Mathiesen won bronze on floor (9.575).

The Level 8 girls were also in action at the same meet, competing not only for state titles for also for spots on the Illinois state team and a place at the upcoming Level 8 Regional meet in Michigan.

Competing in the Senior D age group, Warren High School’s Kelsey Stoecker checked all those boxes, winning a state championship title on uneven bars (9.30). Her 36.60 all-around score also placed her third and guaranteed her a spot on Team Illinois for the regional meet.

Her teammate at Warren, Krystal Kofoed, narrowly missed out on floor gold, settling for a silver medal with a score of 9.55. She also qualified to compete in Michigan later this month.

Individual scores for the girls were as follows:

Level 7

Child A: Ella Peter — Vault: 9.575 (4th); Bars: 8.875; Beam: 9.775 (1st); Floor: 9.80 (1st); All-around: 38.025 (6th).

Child C: Lizzie Jacobs — Vault: 9.375; Bars: 9.425; Beam: 9.575 (5th); Floor: 9.50 (5th); All-around: 37.875 (6th).

Junior A: Tiffany Groenke — Vault: 9.45; Bars: 8.30; Beam: 9.15; Floor: 9.375; All-around: 36.275.

Samantha Wahlers — Vault: 9.375; Bars: 9.275; Beam: 8.625; Floor: 9.525 (9th); All-around: 36.80.

Emily Whitis — Vault: 9.40; Bars: 8.90; Beam: 9.45 (7th); Floor: 9.70 (2nd); All-around: 37.45 (9th).

Junior C: Julia Betman — Vault: 9.45 (5th); Bars: 8.65; Beam: 9.20 (7th); Floor: 9.525 (5th); All-around: 36.825 (8th).

Ximena Gomez — Vault: 9.30 (9th); Bars: 9.175; Beam: 8.85; Floor: 9.00; All-around: 36.325.

Senior A: Sara Becker — Vault: 9.375; Bars: 9.425 (6th); Beam: 9.575 (2nd); Floor: 9.75 (2nd); All-around: 38.125 (3rd).

Maddie Jacobs — Vault: 9.60 (4th); Bars: 9.525 (2nd); Beam: 9.475 (4th); Floor: 9.725 (3rd); All-around: 38.325 (1st).

Abigail Pierce — Vault: 9.125; Bars: 8.85; Beam: 9.20; Floor: 9.60 (6th); All-around: 36.775.

Katie Schroeder — Vault: 9.45; Bars: 9.45 (5th); Beam: 9.475 (4th); Floor: 9.525 (9th); All-around: 37.90 (5th).

Senior B: Allison O’Connell — Vault: 9.95 (2nd); Bars: 9.075; Beam: 9.225 (5th); Floor: 9.575 (3rd); All-around: 37.825 (3rd).

Senior C: Carli Betman — Vault: 9.60 (3rd); Bars: 8.95 (7th); Beam: 9.55 (2nd); Floor: 9.45; All-around: 37.55 (5th).

Kaylin Mathiesen — Vault: 9.575 (6th); Bars: 8.30; Beam: 8.15; Floor: 9.575 (3rd); All-around: 35.60.

Kyra McCue — Vault: 9.475; Bars: 8.15; Beam: 9.225 (7th); Floor: 9.25; All-around: 36.10.

Senior D: Laura Blake — Vault: 9.00; Bars: 8.325; Beam: 8.55; Floor: 9.20; All-around: 35.075.

Level 8

Senior D: Krystal Kofoed — Vault: 8.625; Bars: 8.45; Beam: 8.55; Floor: 9.55 (2nd); All-around: 35.175.

Kelsey Stoecker — Vault: 8.875; Bars: 9.30 (1st); Beam: 9.00 (5th); Floor: 9.425 (4th); All-around: 36.60 (3rd).

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