Cosentino's performance speaks volumes for Conant

Soft-spoken off the gymnastics equipment, Conant senior Cara Cosentino is virtually unstoppable on it.

"She's had a great season," said Cougars coach Laurel Rohrback. "Her routine on beam, she's been hitting. For the most part, she's been on."

That's nothing new for Cosentino. For the last two years she's been the top gymnast on Conant, picking up the mantle left by the incomparable Allison Buckley, who set a state record by winning six-out-of-six first-place medals at the 2006 state meet, including the team state title for the first time.

"We were on cloud nine," Cosentino said. "We got free water massages from a local masseuse. It's the first time I ever woke up after a meet and didn't feel any pain."

Cosentino broke into the Cougars' roster when she was a freshman.

"I started serious competition," she recalled. "I was on junior varsity. They'd bring me up for invitationals, then regionals. I ended up qualifying on the uneven bars."

But that's not even her favorite event.

"Bars are my best event, but they're not my favorite," Cosentino said. "Floor is. I get to have fun and I feel floor brings the crowd into it, into the meet from the music."

By her sophomore year Cosentino was a varsity regular, but vault kept her from being an all-arounder.

"I was lucky with the team I had (in 2006). After I got there, the girls gave you something to look for. Everyone was motivated, looking for spots."

Now, with one more state meet before she heads off to college, Cosentino is focusing on perfecting her routines.

"I think she's just cleaning up new things," Rohrback said. "We're battling back and forth."

One thing all of the Cougars agree upon is that they can't entire rely on Cosentino to carry the team all the way to state.

"It wouldn't be just her," Rohrback said. "She can't do everything on her own. It's going to come down to four girls making it happen.

"I have two girls who I don't think can compete up there."

Rohrback brough up two JV girls this season to help out and that has been working out well.

"At the Lake Forest Invite we scored 141. They stepped up and helped us."