Barrington's Hasanov eager for senior-season achievement

Barrington's Abby Hasanov definitely has an intense internal drive to succeed, and it has propelled the Fillies senior gymnast to some nifty heights.

Hasanov has earned four state medals, including two state titles in her first three years. She has helped power the Fillies to two consecutive state qualifications, and her names sits on top the leader board in three events.

"Her biggest strength is her drive to always get better," said Barrington coach Jason Loeffler. "If I tell her to do five full routines in practices, she'll do six.

"If she doesn't get the results that she wants, she will come back 100 percent as hard to get that result."

Hasanov enters the season as one of the top returning gymnasts in the state and is ready to add to her list of accomplishments.

Hasanov qualified for the state finals in both the vault and bars her freshman year, but was held out due to a 104-degree fever.

She came roaring back her sophomore year to earn three medals, including a state title on the bars.

Last year Hasanov had a fall on the bars in the state preliminaries, wiping out her chance to defend her title. So she turned her attention to the floor routine, where she earned her second state title and fourth state medal.

And now, in her final high school season, Hasanov is ready to put an exclamation point her career.

"It's my senior season so I just want to go out with a bang," said Hasanov who is looking at continuing her gymnastics career in college and is currently looking at Ball State, Indiana, and Illinois-Chicago. "A lot of these girls I've been with since freshman year or younger."

When it comes to all-time best gymnasts at Barrington, Stacey Magiera definitely holds the mark. Magiera, a 2000 graduate, earned six state medals, including four state titles, and helped the Fillies to the 2000 team championship.

But Hasanov is not far behind. The Fillies senior holds the top mark in three events, including all-around (39.0), floor (9.9) and vault (9.9). She also holds the third-best mark on the beam (9.75).

"We've had some really good gymnasts come through here," said Loeffler, "but when you have a gymnast come through and is on top of your board in three spots … it says a lot about her."

But her end-of-season run last year really defines the gymnast Hasanov has become.

As a junior, she was nearly flawless in her first three events at the Lake Park sectional. She had hit on the vault (9.65), bars (9.475), and floor (9.55) and entered the final event on the beam with a ton of momentum.

That momentum was abruptly halted on beam when her best friend Molly Blanke, with whom Hasanov had competed since first grade, took a nasty tumble on her beam dismount.

The Fillies junior was at a loss while watching Blanke deal with a severe ankle sprain.

Hasanov followed Blanke on the beam and recorded three falls, ending her night with a thud.

"I was rattled," said Hasanov, "When I got on beam I was still shaking from crying. I knew how hard Molly had worked and I felt really bad."

Things didn't improve a whole lot at the state preliminaries when Hasanov recorded a fall on the bars. The floor exercise in Saturday's state finals offered Hasanov one last shot, and she delivered.

"She was on," said Loeffler of Hasanov's big moment. "We wanted to show off that she stuck every single pass, every jump, and every leap."

Hasanov started her floor routine by nailing a double pike on her first pass; it was the same opening pass that she'd bobbled at the Mid-Suburban League meet.

"I knew as soon as she walked on the floor she had it," said Blanke of her best friend. "After she stuck that first pass, it was in the bag."

Hasanov went on to nail her final two passes and then sprinted off the floor to jump in her teammates' waiting arms.

"I usually don't land my skills perfectly," added Hasanov, "but I stuck my passes like glue. I knew when I finished that was the one."

Now Hasanov has become the one to watch this season. The senior has been working hard to upgrade her beam routine and will also be a threat in the all-around.

The chalk was flying and music was blaring at a practice a week before the impending season.

And there were Hasanov and Blanke, working side by side on the on a pair of beams, the apparatus that seemed to unglue the ending of last season.

There were no tears to be found this time, with Hasanov and Blanke both joking and smiling.

Hasanov took a moment to consider the road that lies in front of her.

"A lot of pressure is gone," she said. "I'm pumped. As a team, we're adding new skills and getting everything together and we'll see how it goes from there. This year I know a lot about the program and I'm just embracing the last moments of it."