Libertyville's Becker shines at NSC meet; Stevenson wins team title
Anna Becker of Libertyville has been seeing her season improve with each meet and she picked a great time to capture the all-around title with a 37.65 at the North Suburban Conference girls gymnastics meet at Libertyville on Friday night.
Becker also earned top honors on the vault (9.65) and on the floor exercise (9.45). She placed second on the bars, tied with Stevenson's Maya Fergus (9.5).
"I thought I had a good meet, and I didn't get myself down after my fall on beam," Becker said. "I thought I finished up the meet strong. It feels great (winning the all-around) with all the hard work that I put in the gym has paid off. I'm just proud of myself for never giving up."
Stevenson won the meet with a 145.6 just ahead of Lake Zurich 144.3. The Bears won the dual-meet portion of the season so they tied with the Patriots for the conference title.
"I'm thrilled. It wasn't our best meet," Stevenson coach Judy Harwood said. "We didn't do a perfect job. I'm thinking we can do better. Tying Lake Zurich is fabulous. They're such a great team."
The Bears have great respect for the Patriots. They've battled with them all season as well as in Friday's meet.
"Stevenson did a great job," Lake Zurich coach Chelsie Groteleuschen said, "We just had a rocky start on beam and what I'm most proud of was that the girls turned it around, and we hit everything after that. Stevenson seemed more talented, and we were honored to go against them. We still had our best bars routines of all year."
Libertyville's Ally Humbert placed second on the beam (9.35) behind Stevenson's Ashley Schabes (9.5). Schabes was second in the all-around (37.45), and second on floor (9.4).
"I had a lot of difficulty with my routine (on the beam)," Schabes said. "I've been working really hard on it for the past couple of years. I've added harder skills that I can do. I think that really helped. I do get through it with numbers. I just like going into beam knowing that I've done the numbers in practice and have fun with my teammates before I go so I'm not in my head too much."
Stevenson's Ally Gitler placed third in the all-around (37.35), fourth on vault (9.45), fourth on bars (9.45), and tied for fourth place with Lake Zurich's AJ Burk on beam (9.25). Gitler was fifth on floor (9.25). Stevenson's Emma Fang was third on beam (9.3)
Rayna Kauffman of Lake Zurich was fourth in the all-around (36.5) and the Bears' Burk finished fifth (36.3). Kauffman chalked up the top spot on the bars (9.55), she landed third on vault (9.55) and floor (9.35). Lake Zurich's Mia McHugh was fifth on vault (9.35), Burk was also fifth on bars (9.4).
Warren's Amanda Hamann placed second on vault (9.6) and fourth on floor (9.3). But Hamann had a fall off the beam that left some concern with her ankle. She was able to walk away after the fall.
"It was a just a sprain on the ankle," Warren coach Mary Kovac said. "She just needs some ice and rest. She should be good to go for regionals with a short turnaround time for (Tuesday). She's a competitor and we'll tape her up and she should be good to go."
The other team scores included Lake Forest (136.4), Warren (136.35), Libertyville (136.25) and Mundelein (130.8).