Grieving Pirates dedicate fifth to Deacon
It was a heavy-hearted team Palatine boys gymnastics team that competed Friday night at the 61st state finals at Lincoln-Way East in Frankfort. And despite the overflow of emotions, the Pirates were still able to come away with a fifth-place finish.
Earlier in the day, the Pirates attended the funeral of former gymnast Cole Deacon, who died earlier this week in a traffic accident. Deacon was a member of last year's team that also finished fifth.
“It was one of the toughest things I've ever had to do,” Palatine coach Scott Hagel said. “We dedicated the meet to him. The boys wanted to do something special for him.”
The team wore a piece of tape with Deacon's name on it under their gymnastic uniforms to honor him. Rules do not allow the tape on the outside of the uniform.
“It was under our uniforms right by our hearts,” said Matt Lee, who is one of the captains of the team this year. “We wanted to get some inspiration from him.”
Understandably, Palatine got off to a slow start. But Jonah Hinz, Mike Jankovec, Austin Hoening, Lucas Price, Kevin Weir, Miguel Ramirez, Pratik Patel, Ben Dibuz and Lee all helped the Pirates picked up steam to finish with a score of 148.80.
“We came in knowing that we were fifth,” Hagel said. “And that is where we finished. I am proud of our effort.”
Wheaton Co-op won the state title with a 160.80. Lincoln-Way co-op was second with a 157.45, Downers Grove North was third with a 155.35 and Glenbard West was fourth with a 152.60.
Hinz rocked his way to a third-place finish in the all-around with a 53.75. It was the highest finish in the all-around by a Palatine gymnast, besting the fourth-place finish by Matt Eckardt in 2007.
“It felt great,” Hinz said. “I have been working so hard. I was hoping for top five, so third is amazing.”
Mundelein struggled in its second straight appearance at the state finals. The youthful Mustangs had a touch of nerves and finished seventh with a score of 146.70.
“We started off on high bar and it was rough for us,” Mundelein coach Jesse Piland said. “We just never got into a rhythm after high bar. At some point our young guys have to realize that someone is not just going to give them a high score. But I think they grew up a lot tonight.”
Colin McCarthy led the Mustangs by finishing 10th in the all-around with a 51.55.
“I really wanted to finish in the top 10,” said McCarthy, who is sophomore. “I got off to a slow start, but I was very happy with my floor routine.”
Cameron Mueller, who is also a sophomore, finished 24th in the all-around with a 47.70. The Mustangs also got strong performances from Tim Beranek, Maurice Ruff, Theo Vergis and Kevin Franz.
Glenbard West freshman sensation Alex Diab won the all-around with a 56.70, while defending state champion Ajani Cargle of Lincoln-Way was second with a 56.30.
Fremd's C.J. Patton finished 15th in the all-around with a 50.20, including a 9.60 on the pommel horse.
“I am happy with how I did tonight,” Patton said. “This was my first time doing the all-around at state and it went pretty well.”
Buffalo Grove's David Kavalerchik finished 17th with a score of 49.85, Conant's Brian Reedy was 19th with a 48.90, Stevenson's Arie Feltman-Frank was 20th while teammate Jacob Guth was 25th with a 46.75 and Prospect's Chris Klein was 27th with a 44.10.