Ultimate Gymnastics girls takes first

Submitted by Jane Feely

If you’re going to perform big, what better place to do so than on a big stage? And it doesn’t get any bigger than the annual Chicago Style Gymnastics Meet hosted by the Illinois Gymnastics Institute. So, when the Level 7 girls from Ultimate Gymnastics of Gurnee posted a first-place finish at this prestigious event recently, it was certainly worth celebrating.

Now in its 15th year, the Chicago Style Meet is the largest women’s invitational meet in the world. Held at Navy Pier, the event sees six full gyms set up side-by-side. Each of these gyms hosts three competition sessions per day over a three-day period. This year saw teams travel from across the country, such as teams from Rhode Island, Nevada, Alabama and Nebraska. There was also international competition from Bermuda, Canada and Mexico.

In their Level 7 session, the Ultimate team saw two girls place first in the all-around. Sylvia Raquel took top honors in the 11-and-under age group. She also won beam and floor gold and placed second on bars and third on vault. In the 13-and-over age group Laken Ritzert from Riverwoods took the top spot on the podium for everything except floor exercise, where she placed fourth.

Another outstanding Level 7 performance came from Libertyville’s Grace Miller who placed second on floor and third on beam in the 11-and-under age group. Meanwhile Leah Medenwaldt placed second on vault and in the all-around and took bronze on beam in the 12-year-old age group. Her teammates Chapin Grumhaus and Gaby Inawat took gold and silver on floor exercise respectively and Jessica Pasquesi was second on beam and third in the all-around.

The Level 8 girls also had successes to celebrate, particularly Grayslake’s Katie Schroeder who competes in the 14-and-over age group. She took gold on bars and beam and placed second in the all-around. Her teammate Caroline Grumhaus was third on floor. In the younger 13-year-old age group, Samantha Wahlers was first on floor with Emily Whitis second. Emily was also runner-up on beam and third on bars.

At Level 10, Ally Hoyer continued her successful season with a silver medal on floor and bronze on beam in the 15-and-under age group. Meanwhile Gurnee’s Emily Basara was runner-up on vault in the 16-year-old age group, scoring an impressive 9.50.

Scores for individual girls are as follows:

Level 7

11 years and under: Aaliyah Humphreys (Gurnee): Vault: 9.375 (10th); Bars: 8.825; Beam: 9.15 (9th); Floor: 9.20 (9th); All-around: 36.55 (7th).

Grace Miller (Libertyville): Vault: 9.175; Bars: 8.325; Beam: 9.30 (3rd); Floor: 9.55 (2nd); All-around: 36.35 (10th).

Sylvia Raquel (Libertyville): Vault: 9.475 (3rd); Bars: 9.475 (2nd); Beam: 9.675 (1st); Floor: 9.55 (1st); All-around: 38.175 (1st).

12 year olds: Chapin Grumhaus (Lake Forest): Vault: 9.225; Bars: 9.15 (4th); Beam: 8.875 (8th); Floor: 9.425 (1st); All-around: 36.675 (4th).

Dana Hutter (Gurnee): Vault: 9.25 (10th); Bars: 8.95 (8th); Beam: 8.40; Floor: 9.20 (9th); All-around: 35.80 (10th).

Gaby Inawat (Waukegan): Vault: 9.175; Bars: 8.525; Beam: 8.60; Floor: 9.375 (2nd); All-around: 35.675.

Leah Medenwaldt (Grayslake): Vault: 9.45 (2nd); Bars: 9.125 (5th); Beam: 9.375 (3rd); Floor: 9.30 (5th); All-around: 37.25 (2nd).

Jessica Pasquesi (Lake Forest): Vault: 9.40 (5th); Bars: 8.875 (9th); Beam: 9.40 (2nd); Floor: 9.25 (7th); All-around: 36.925 (3rd).

13 and over: Brenna Geier (Gurnee): Vault: 9.00; Bars: 8.475 (9th); Beam: 8.05; Floor: 9.075 (7th); All-around: 34.60 (10th).

Gabrielle Panlaqui (Round Lake): Vault: 9.325 (7th); Bars: 8.95 (7th); Beam: 8.30; Floor: 8.90; All-around: 35.475 (6th).

Laken Ritzert (Riverwoods): Vault: 9.575 (1st); Bars: 9.55 (1st); Beam: 9.425 (1st); Floor: 9.275 (4th); All-around: 37.825 (1st).

The Level 7 team took first place

Level 8

13 year olds: Samantha Wahlers (Round Lake Beach): Vault: 8.325; Bars: 8.20 (7th); Beam: 8.60; Floor: 9.50 (1st); All-around: 34.625 (6th).

Emily Whitis (Lindenhurst): Vault: 8.40; Bars: 8.675 (3rd); Beam: 9.30 (2nd); Floor: 9.45 (2nd); All-around: 35.825 (4th).

Ages 14 and up: Caroline Grumhaus (Lake Forest): Vault: 8.70 (9th); Bars: 8.40; Beam: 8.55; Floor: 9.35 (3rd); All-around: 35.00 (6th).

Katie Schroeder (Grayslake): Vault: 8.30; Bars: 9.30 (1st); Beam: 9.525 (1st); Floor: 9.225 (4th); All-around: 36.35 (2nd).

Level 9

Bailee Hardy (Grayslake): Vault: scratch; Bars: 8.725; Beam: scratch; Floor: scratch.

Level 10

15 and under: Ally Hoyer (Grayslake): Vault: 9.425 (8th); Bars: 8.525; Beam: 9.20 (3rd); Floor: 9.475 (2nd); All-around: 36.625 (4th).

Lauren Marshall (Winthrop Harbor): Vault: 9.25; Bars: 8.30; Beam: 9.10 (4th); Floor: 9.10 (5th); All-around: 35.75 (9th).

16 year olds: Emily Basara (Gurnee): Vault: 9.50 (2nd); Bars: 9.10 (6th); Beam: 8.70; Floor: 9.125 (9th); All-around: 36.425 (7th).

The Level 10 team took 3rd place

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