Gutsy state finish for Warren's Basara

In addition to the medal she won, they probably should create another one for Warren's Emily Basara -for sheer courage.

Battling through painfully swollen ankles while competing in the finals of the girls gymnastics state meet at Palatine High School on Saturday night, Basara medaled on vault.

McKenzie Kehr of Mundelein and Sam Lococo of Carmel Catholic joined Basara in finding a way to the podium to earn state medals, and Mundelein coach Nancy Toland was named the coach of the year by her peers.

During the pre-meet warm-up, Basara suffered an injury while doing a tumbling pass on the floor exercise.

"I had crushed my ankles really bad and they swelled up, like a really big balloon," Basara said. "It hurt so bad that I did even finish the warm-ups. I sat out and iced."

Basara wasn't sure if she would compete at all. Slated to compete on both vault and floor exercise, Basara, a senior, first decided to give the vault a go.

"I felt like I would really regret it if I didn't do it," Basara said. "If I didn't do it, then I would've been upset. I just figured I would do one vault and call it a night."

She went ahead and did her Yurchenko layout - which she landed. Basara attempted only one of her possible two vaults, but it netted her a score of 9.7. That earned her a fourth-place tie with Hinsdale South's Maddie Nowak.

"I did get a medal, and it feels good," Basara said. "It would feel better if I had another. But a lot of girls come out here and work so hard to get here. I still applaud all the girls that placed out here."

Basara also fought through the pain to attempt her floor exercise routine. She wasn't able to land her last pass and placed 12th with an 8.875.

"I never thought I would do floor, because it was that painful," Basara said. "I'm upset that I fell, but in spite of it, I went through the pain and still did it."

Lococo has enjoyed the floor exercise and has been consistent all season for the Corsairs. The sophomore had one of her best routines in the finals, earning her a tie for third with Claire Rose Ginsberg of Geneva with a 9.55.

"I do love doing my floor routine," said Lococo, competing in her first state finals. "Before, getting out there is worse then when you're doing it. You get nervous at first. I really felt I wasn't by myself out there, because my team was in the front row cheering me on."

Kehr also found a way to get a medal, on the balance beam. Last year, she finished in seventh place in the finals. She improved on that, taking fifth with a 9.275.

"It was a great relief to get there in my senior year," Kehr said. "It was a good experience last year and it gave me a heads-up about what was coming. It was helpful to control the pressure. I did a new skill (flip-flop back) and I was able to stay on."

Kehr was also named a gymnast to represent Team Illinois in the nationals. That meet will take place in Florida in May.

And Toland earned coach of the year honors, as chosen by the other coaches. She's leaving coaching after 15 years at Mundelein.

"It was a true honor, I was completely surprised and shocked," Toland said. "I think that it's been a big year for Mundelein. Having an honor like that and finishing as a head coach, I was very flattered. It's nice to celebrate it with my team this year."

Aleah Leman of DeKalb had the top honor on vault with a 9.825.

Kelly Johnston of Rolling Meadows finished first on the beam with 9.625, Barrington's Abby Hasanov placed first on the floor with 9.725 and there was a three-way tie on the bars for the top spot as Maddie Solka of Prairie Ridge, Kelsy Kurfirst of Lyons and Rachael Underwood of Prairie Ridge all had 9.7.

Prairie Ridge won first place for the first time with an even 150, while Geneva was the runner-up (147.3) ahead of Fremd (146.625).