Prospect perseveres for title

Prospect looked to be well on its way to a regional title after the vault and uneven bars.

But a shaky performance on the balance beam by the Knights opened the door for Maine South.

Host Prospect quickly closed it with a solid performance on the floor to edge Maine South 140.225-139.750 for its second consecutive regional title on Tuesday.

Wheeling took third with 124.95 points, followed by Elgin/Larkin Coop (111.275 points).

Prospect advances to the Schaumburg sectional next Monday at 6:30 p.m.

"The meet could have gone either way," said Prospect coach Julian Basler of the narrow victory. "But our girls pulled it through at the end. They're not going to give it away, if someone wants it, they're going to have to take it."

Sophomore Lauren Johnson (36.250) and senior Katie Colmone (35.925) went 3-4 in the all-around to lead the Knights.

Colmone used a pike tsuk in taking first on the vault (9.350), adding a second place on the bars (9.225), and finishing strong with a fourth place on the floor (9.150) to propel the Knights.

The senior's only blemish was on the beam, where she had one fall and finished seventh (8.20).

"It was bad news," said Colmone of her beam performance, but the senior more than made up for it on the floor. "I knew I had been scoring consistently, so I just went out and had fun."

Johnson came back strong after finishing 21st in the all-around at the Mid-Suburban League conference meet. The sophomore had no problem in taking first on the beam (9.350), tying for third on the vault (9.175), and adding a fourth-place finish on the bars (8.75).

"I think the entire team responded well," added Johnson of the Knights performance. "We pulled all our stuff together and just did it."

Senior Paula Papaioannou took first in the all-around (37.050), adding a first on the bars (9.350), a second on the beam (9.325), and a pair of thirds on the vault (9.175) and floor (9.2) in leading Maine South.

Senior Jamie Brocker took first on the floor (9.450) helping Maine South to a season high score, which should secure the Hawks an at-large berth in next week's sectional.

"Those are our top two girls and they definitely carried our team," said Maine South coach Tess Robinson. "It was close, now we're just hoping for advance as an at-large."

Wheeling senior Amy Burke took second in the all-around (36.40), adding a pair of seconds on the vault (9.325) and floor (9.250), a third on the bars (8.975) and a fourth on the beam (8.850).

"It's good knowing I can still be solid without having my best performance," said Burke, "now I just have to push through for sectionals."

Elgin/Larkin Coop junior Ashley Horne took fifth in the all-around (34.675), taking fifth on both the bars (8.725) and floor (9.050).

"It was definitely solid except for beam," added Horne of her performance. "I know what I need to work on for sectionals - it's looking good."