Girls gymnastics: Shulman, Richards lead Conant to MSL championship
The Conant girls gymnastics team continued to shine Saturday afternoon at the Mid-Suburban League meet hosted by Palatine.
The Cougars fell just shy of hitting a season-high mark, but they still soared to the championship with 140.15 points for their fourth MSL title in school history and their first since 2017.
Fremd took runner-up honors with 138.3 points followed by the host Pirates (136.15 points) in third, and Prospect (134.55 points) in fourth. Buffalo Grove edged short-handed Hersey 128.50 to 128.45 for fifth while Barrington (127.3) placed seventh.
Palatine senior Jolee Waddington won her third straight MSL all-around crown with 37.15 points (9.29 average). Conant freshmen teammates Julia Shulman (36.45 points) and Izabella Richards (35.35) went 2-3 in the all-around while Fremd teammates Megan Boeke (34.8) and Alexa Szczygiel tied for fourth overall.
"They (Shulman and Richards) are two strong freshmen who rode out every high and low this year, and it was a season-high for Izabella Richards today," said Conant coach Victoria Zervos. "They grew up doing gymnastics together so they have each other's backs, and Marissa Schulman is a senior who leads by example."
Schaumburg's Vanessa DiVincenzo (34.45) placed sixth in the all-around followed by Prospect's Callan Morris (34.40) in seventh, Fremd's Rylee Sammons (34.35) in eighth, Conant's Marissa Shulman (34.25) in ninth, and Prospect's Taryn Sorensen (33.85) in 10th.
"I had a rough beam, but it's all about mentality and coming back, and I hit floor so that was good," said Waddington, who will play soccer at Eastern Michigan next fall. "My team had my back just supporting me, and I'm excited about it (double-back) on floor exercise. I want to go to state and finish my senior season strongly."
Palatine coach Terry Theobald's team was short-handed for the meet. "We did not have a full lineup with three girls out, but it was the first time for Jolee Waddington doing a double-back on floor exercise and she got a 9.5," said Theobald. "She (Waddington) has a chance to win something (at state), her bars have improved, and her floor is a lot better."
Rolling Meadows' Isabel Beverung (33.65) placed 11th in the all-around while Buffalo Grove teammates Lucy Kummerow and Emily Krause placed 12th and 13th, respectively. Prospect's Ava Boesen placed 14th while Barrington's Scarlett Halloran edged Hersey's Katherine Catlett for 15th place.
"Alexa (Szyzygiel) hasn't competed in the all-around since mid-December so that was a big step for her today and she did very well," said Fremd coach Kacey Kronforst. "Megan (Boeke) has been one of our top all-arounders all season, she's a captain as well, and Rylee's best event today was beam with an 8.95."
Prospect coach Monica Donner was happy with her squad's performance. "It was a pretty good score for us, but we had a couple of falls or we would have been close to our season-high," Donner said. "Callan is a junior, Taryn is a sophomore and they did great today. We used this meet as a warmup for regionals."
Waddington won vault (9.6), floor (9.5), and uneven bars (9.45) while Szczygiel (9.35) won beam. Fremd's Sydney Szwec took fifth on vault while DiVincenzo took fifth on uneven bars.
Hersey was going for three MSL crowns in a row. But the Huskies have been devastated by injuries as elite sophomore all-arounder Maria Reyes, Kaya Rokicki, and Zara Aloviddinova all missed the meet.
"There is a 90% chance that they won't be back this season," said Hersey coach Shannon Barrett, whose team won the state title in 2024. "I'm hopeful that the girls I have right now stay healthy, and Maria (Reyes) is probably not going to be ready for regionals."