St. Edward’s Madden sisters know way to Palatine
Jordyn Madden may have had some difficulty locating the site for her first gymnastic meet as an individual gymnast for St. Edward as a freshman, but the Green Wave senior has had no trouble finding the state meet the past four years.
Jordyn Madden went to the wrong location for her first gymnastic meet as a freshman, but the Green Wave senior qualified for her fourth consecutive state gymnastic meet at the Lake Park sectional last week, with her sister Abby, a junior, qualifying for her third consecutive meet.
Jordyn became the first individual to qualify for state in gymnastics at St. Edward when she advanced on the vault and in the all-around her freshman year. She made it to Saturday’s finals that year on the vault, finishing in eighth place.
Jordyn and Abby Madden are back and are set to compete at the IHSA state gymnastics meet in Friday’s preliminaries starting at 5 p.m. at Palatine High School. All-around champions will be awarded on Friday.
Session II for individual event and team champions will begin at 5:30 p. m. on Saturday in Palatine
“I think it’s awesome,” said Jordyn of her fourth consecutive trip to the state meet where she will compete on the vault. “Especially this year since there seems to be a lot more competition.”
Abby advanced in all four events and the all-around the past two seasons, making it to the finals on floor last season where she finished ninth.
This year Abby finished third in the all-around (37.20) and on beam (9.375), taking fifth on the vault (9.525) to automatically qualify out of the Lake Park sectional. She also qualified as an at-large on the beam.
“This year I’ve been hitting pretty consistently,” said Abby of her performance. “But I still get nervous before each event.”
Jordyn, a three sport athlete for St. Edward, had the option of participating as member of the St. Charles co-op her freshman season, but decided to represent the Green and Gold of St. Edward as an individual.
“I thought it would be cool to do it for St. Edward,” said Jordyn, “I love to wear the colors.”
Both Jordyn and Abby are honor society students and best of friends, and are looking to make another appearance in Saturday’s finals where the top 10 individuals advance after Friday’s preliminaries.
“It’s definitely different making it to Saturday finals,” said Abby speaking of her finals appearance last season. “It’s definitely nerve wracking, everyone is watching you.”
Jordyn has been working hard to convert her Yurchenko pike into a layout on the vault, but knows there is a stiff challenge ahead.
“Hopefully Friday I can have a solid layout,” said Jordyn of her vault. “It’s going to have to be perfect to advance, but I’m excited.”
The Madden sisters have had no need for a G.P.S.; they’ve done just fine locating the state meet on their own.
Jacob freshman Allison Riedel has also made quite an impression this year. Riedel, participating as an individual for the Golden Eagles, tied for third on the vault (9.6) and tied for sixth on the floor (9.3) to qualify out of the Lake Park sectional on both events.
The Eagle freshman has had quite a postseason; she also took first in the all-around (36.925) and floor (9.050), second on beam (9.4), and third on vault (9.2) at the Fremd regional.
The Cary-Grove freshman duo of Racheal Underwood and Riley Mahoney helped power Prairie Ridge co-op to its first sectional title at Lake Park.
Underwood took first in the all-around (37.775), second on beam (9.45) and vault (9.6250), and added a pair of fourth place finishes on the bars (9.3) and floor (9.4) advancing in all four events and all-around.
Mahoney wasn’t too far behind taking an impressive first on the vault (9.7) and adding a third-place finish on the floor (9.425) at the sectionals, she also advanced in the all-around as an at-large.
The two freshmen have the Wolves poised to secure their first state gymnastics trophy, as the team enters the state tournament with the second best sectional mark (147.25).
“We’ve been doing great and we’re definitely going for a state trophy,” said Underwood after the sectional meet. “But we still have to prove ourselves a little more.”