Fremd recovers to win regional

Host Fremd looked unstoppable on the first two events at its own girls gymnastics regional Thursday.

The Vikings blew through the vault (36.775) and bars (36.725) in impressive fashion.

But the Vikings’ attack stalled on the floor (33.875), where they recorded five falls. Fortunately for them, they were able to re-ignite on the beam, scoring 37.150 on their way to a 20th straight regional title with 144.525 points in Palatine.

Fremd advances to the Lake Park sectional at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Lake Park (134.30 points) took second, followed by Buffalo Grove (125.275 points)

“Obviously floor didn’t go the way we wanted,” said Fremd coach Tim Hamman. “But to their credit they didn’t let it affect the other events. We know we can do better, and that is what we have to work on.”

Fremd showed its dominance by taking four of the top five spots on vault, bars and beam.

Junior Shannon Lemajeur used a Yurchenko layout to take first on vault (9.375) and also steadied the Vikings’ attack by taking first on the beam (9.425).

“On the floor we had some uncharacteristic falls,” said Lemajeur, who also took second in the all-around (36.025). “We got together as a team and decided we needed to hit and do what we do.

“There’s pressure, but all we can do is focus on hitting like we normally do and stay confident.”

Fremd freshman Sydney Plichta seemed to be unfazed by the pressure. She took first on bars (9.275), tied for third on beam (9.275) and added a fifth-place finish on vault (9.025).

Fremd also was aided by the performance of senior Stephanie Uhrich, who took third in the all-around (35.775), second on bars (9.225), third on vault (9.225) and fifth on beam (9.175).

Senior Elizabeth Uhrich tied for second on floor (8.975), sophomore Christine Jensen added a fourth-place finish on vault (9.15), junior Stephanie Gallo tied for third on the bars (9.2), junior Emily Pinderski produced a fifth-place finish on bars (9.025) and freshman Chrissy Radochonski tied for third on the beam (9.275).

Fremd obviously received its postseason wake-up call on the floor.

“Definitely,” said Plichta. “We were really low after floor, but we jumped back on the beam and now it’s on to sectionals.”

Freshman Allison Riedel, who was competing as individual for Jacobs, answered the bell.

Riedel took first in the all-around (36.925) and also added first on the floor (9.05). She took second on beam (9.4) and vault (9.275) and tied for third on the vault (9.275) in an impressive postseason debut.

“I just tried to attack all of my routines,” said Riedel, showing no effects after injuring her left knee in practice on Wednesday. “I fought through it and I feel pretty good.”

Junior Kayla Goodwin led an impressive showing by Lake Park on the floor (8.975), where she tied for second.

Junior Jessica Lewis (8.95) and junior Sofia Tobon (8.85) finished 4-5 for the Lancers on the floor.

“We’re just doing a lot of floor routines in practice and I think it’s showing at the meets,” said Goodwin. “We’ve been working really hard and I’m proud of the team.”

Lewis (33.175) also added a fourth-place finish in the all-around for the Lancers.

Dundee-Crown’s Claire Blume (33.175) took fifth in the all-around, with Buffalo Grove senior Katie Strack (32.90) taking sixth place in the all-around.