Geneva takes 2nd in state
Claire Ginsberg celebrated her first birthday around the same time the Geneva girls gymnastics team finished its first season in 2000.
Ginsberg won't turn 16 until next week, but she had reason to celebrate with her teammates on Saturday night as the Vikings won second place in the IHSA state girls gymnastics finals with 147.3 points.
As expected, Prairie Ridge co-op won with a 150.
"This is all very exciting," she said. "After yesterday we knew we could still reach our goal of hitting a 147 so I was happy I was able to help do that."
Her biggest contribution came on bars where she improved her score from a 9.275 to a 9.5.
"We had a long talk (Friday night) because we didn't want to get third," Vikings coach Kim Hostman said. "We wanted to hold (Fremd) off so we talked about what we needed to do."
Apparently, senior Grace Ginsberg was also listening, as she went from a 9.1 on beam to a 9.425, which sent her to the award stand for fourth place. And, while the Vikings were improving their score, Fremd proved unable to do so with its three attempts.
"To have her make it into the finals and then the top five, what a lovely ending for her career," Hostman said, "I'm so very pleased with the outcome. This team is just made up of strong competitors."
Twenty years ago, Geneva didn't have a gymnastics team. Four years ago, the Vikings had never gotten out of a sectional. Last year, Claire Ginsberg became a state champion in the all-around. This year, they took home hardware. They've transitioned from nobody to a big-time somebody very quickly.
"The work they've put in this season has been amazing," Hostman said. "It paid off and our program has thrived through the last couple of years. Our goal was to be right where we finished so I'm really pleased."
Last year at this time, freshmen Lily Chapman, Kelly Frank, Holly Friedel, Molly Lambillotte and Bailey Pihera weren't even roaming the halls of Geneva and sophomore Julia Grootens wasn't even on the team. Now they've helped make history.
"I have to say that I didn't expect to be a freshman and help get a second place trophy," Lambillotte said. "I really didn't know what to expect coming into this season, but it's been super fun."
Friedel agreed.
"At first I didn't expect high school gymnastics to be this intense, but you could see it here this weekend," she said. "We just kept progressing each meet and to experience something like this with these seniors has been amazing."
Claire Ginsberg tied for sixth on bars with a 9.5, tied for third on floor with a 9.55 and was second on vault with a 9.75.
Grootens, who had a fall on beam, still scored a 9.05 to finish in ninth place.