McCarthy floors it as Mundelein accelerates into state meet

Mundelein sophomore Colin McCarthy is hoping to "floor" his opponents this weekend at the 61st annual boys gymnastics state meet at Lincoln-Way East.

While McCarthy is expected to make a huge jump up the all-around competition standings from his 17th-place finish as a freshman, it is his recent floor exercise routines that have really raised some eyebrows heading into the 2012 state meet in Frankfort.

Not only did McCarthy post a nearly perfect 9.9 for first place on floor exercise at the Independent Conference meet, he duplicated the feat Saturday at the Palatine sectional to put himself in good position to possibly capture first place in the state when the finals are held this Saturday night.

"I'm hoping for a top-three finish in finals on floor exercise and maybe a top-10 finish in the all-around," said McCarthy, who took second-place overall at sectionals with 52.65 points. "If I hit all of my events (at state) I can score a 54 and my second best event is vault."

Beginning the sport of gymnastics at the age of 4, McCarthy learned even more of the basics at Libertyville Gymnastics Academy at age 7 before gradually developing into a gymnast who has pumped a lot of life into the Mundelein program over the past two seasons.

Besides current coach Jesse Piland, McCarthy even got some pointers on his "full Higgins" on his high bar routine once by former legendary Mundelein coach Doug Foerch, who now coaches the Highland Park-Deerfield co-op squad. Parents Oralia and Michael have always been there through the ups and downs in this unforgiving sport, which McCarthy sees himself competing in at the collegiate level.

"(Piland) is a great coach and I'm looking forward to having him next year," said McCarthy, who may focus only on club gymnastics during his senior year. "My family has been there for every meet to support me and they've really had a big influence on me."

Besides shining on floor exercise at Palatine, McCarthy also soared to first place on vault with a 9.55 and second place on parallel bars with a 9.1.

"I'm planning on going to a Big 10 school and I plan to specialize on floor exercise and vault," said McCarthy, who will lead the Mustangs into their second straight Elite Eight appearance Friday. "Last year I was usually placing sixth to 10th, and now I'm placing in the top five in almost every event."

Piland has been very happy with the steady progress of McCarthy leading up to the big meet this weekend, but he knows that his top gymnast has still not quite reached his potential with that "ultimate all-around meet."

"Colin over the last couple of weeks has really not gone full potential with his routines and (at sectionals) he did," said Piland, whose team hit a season-high 150.4 at sectionals to earn an at-large berth to the state meet. "He got a 7.25 on high bar to start the meet, but then he did exactly what we needed him to do on every other event and then some.

"He still has not had his best meet. But when he does, we're going to be a very tough team if we all put it together at the right time," added Piland. "He has a lot more tricks than last year, and he has a lot more waiting for (state)."

The Mustangs' program has won six state championships dating back to 1989, when Foerch was a young coach. But they will be hard-pressed to reach those glory days of the past next weekend.

"(McCarthy) is probably the best athlete I've ever coached. We put in a double-back on parallel bars and he hit it," Piland said. "I've said all year long that he can be a 55 (all-around) gymnast. He just has to stay on pommel horse and just get a little more consistent on high bar."

Mundelein senior Tim Beranek has had a tough 2012 season, but he returned from a wrist injury to compete in five events at sectionals. Beranek has also been impressed by McCarthy's performances leading up to the state meet.

"Colin did phenomenal (at sectional). His floor exercise routine was almost perfect, and we really needed that today," said Beranek, who placed 27th overall in 2011. "I think he's going to win state if he consistently does that floor exercise routine."