Uhrich, Fremd sparkle at MSL meet
Fremd had been looking for a star all season. The Vikings may have found one Friday.
Stephanie Uhrich picked the right night to shine, as the Vikings senior took won the all-around (37.55) in guiding Fremd to the Mid-Suburban League gymnastic title with 146.40 points at Prospect’s Jean Walker Field House.
Host Prospect took second with 143.475 points, followed by Palatine (140.70), Barrington (139.70), and Conant (139.675).
Uhrich added a first-place finish on bars (9.375) and second-place finishes on beam (9.375) and floor (9.575).
“I just kind of went out there and had as much fun as I could,” said Uhrich, who started the night with an eighth-place finish on vault (9.225). “It was really special, especially since it’s my senior year.”
Uhrich was slowed at the beginning of the season with an injury, but there was no stopping the Viking senior on Friday night.
“That is the great thing about our team it’s always someone different stepping up,” said Fremd coach Tim Hamman. “It’s great that it was Stephanie (Uhrich) tonight — she did a wonderful job.”
Fremd had the look of a champion all night, as junior Shannon Lemajeur took second on the vault (9.425), freshman Sydney Plichta tied for second on the bars (9.225) and sophomore Christine Jensen took third on the beam (9.325).
The Viking closed the door on its championship with a stellar floor routine as senior Elizabeth Uhrich (9.35) added a sixth-place finish.
“Steph (Uhrich) did awesome,” said Jensen of the Vikings’ senior leader. “We were able to pick each other up all night and then we finished it off on the floor.”
Senior Lauren Johnson and sophomore Gianna Scala help pace Prospect to a second-place finish.
Scala started the evening by taking first on the vault (9.45) and ended the evening by taking first with a sizzling performance on floor (9.775).
“I needed that,” said Scala who rebounded from a shaky bar routine to nail her floor effort. “I could feel the energy and I fed off that.”
Johnson was steady from start to finish for the Knights. The senior took second in the all-around (37.025), tied for fourth on vault (9.325) and added a fifth-place finish on floor (9.475).
Freshman Maddie Larock helped out the Knights by tying for second on bars (9.2).
“We’ve been working hard on our routines all week,” said Johnson. “We just wanted to hit tonight.”
Junior Nicole Kuksuk powered Palatine to third place by tying for fourth place on both the vault (9.325) and bars (9.2).
“We just wanted to bring a lot of energy today,” said Kuksuk. “We lost it a little bit at the end, but it is something that we can definitely build on.”
Senior Tiffany Persels (9.525) capped a solid floor performance for Barrington by taking third place, and freshman Jessica Lee aided the Fillies by taking fifth in the all-around (36.475) and tying for fourth on the vault (9.325).
“I’ve been working really hard on floor to get my endurance up,” said Persels. “I struggled during warmups, but I was able to put it together. All the hard work paid off.”
Sophomore Bri Bibel pushed through back pains in taking first on the beam (9.425) and pushing Conant to a fifth-place finish.
The Cougars sophomore added a third-place finish in the all-around (36.90) and also took third on the vault (9.35).
Junior Sarah Starzynski added a fifth-place finish on beam (9.15) for the Cougars.
“I’ve been limited in practice on floor and vault, so I’ve been really focusing on beam,” said Bibel. “I went hard and it paid off.”
Elk Grove sophomore Amelia Rafferty tied for second on the bars (9.225) and took fourth on the floor (9.5) and all-around (36.80) in a solid performance.
“I had not hit on the bars all season, so I was really happy with the way I finished,” said Rafferty of her final event. “It’s something I’ve been working on all season.”
Junior Erin Barrett took fourth on the beam (9.175) as defending MSL champion Schaumburg placed sixth.