Prospect’s Scala back in spotlight

Observers of girls gymnastics saw a lot of things from Prospect’s Gianna Scala last year.

As a freshman, Scala offered a glimpse of her talent by taking first on the floor exercise (9.55) and adding a fourth in the all-around (36.625) at the Mid-Suburban League meet. She continued her hot streak at the Maine South regional by placing first on the floor (9.575) and bars (9.15) and adding a second on the vault (9.175) and all-around (36.225).

She then punched her ticket to state by once again taking first on floor (9.625), third on beam and fifth in the all-around at the Niles North sectional.

One thing people didn’t see was the Knights’ gymnast sitting. But that is exactly what Scala was doing at the mid-December Palatine Invitational.

Scala sat glued to her seat with her long brown hair, which is usually in a tight ponytail for competition, hanging over her shoulders and a pair of crutches at her side.

Scala, a state qualifier on three events as a freshman, entered the season with a high ceiling, but the roof came crashing down after she injured her left knee. She sprained her medial collateral ligament, sidelining her for the heart of the regular season.

For a gymnast such as Scala, who lives for the aerials, leaps, and flips, being grounded at midseason was a big downer.

And although the injury wasn’t foreseen, her end-of-season comeback was just as unexpected.

“I thought there might be something really wrong,” said Scala, who had battled a left knee injury throughout the summer and suffered the MCL sprain to the same knee on the Monday before the Palatine Invitational. “The first thing I wanted to do was get healthy, and then maybe I could start thinking about the state meet.”

She doesn’t have to think about making the state meet anymore. It became a reality after Scala qualified on the floor, beam, vault and all-around at the Lake Park sectional last week.

Scala is once again reaching new heights and enters this weekend’s state gymnastics meet at Palatine High School with the fourth-best sectional floor score (9.625).

“She knows she’s not where she should be right now,” said Prospect coach Randy Smith of Scala’s injury setback. “But she wants to be up with the best of the best. She can do it, she is really talented.”

Scala’s potential for her sophomore season seemed to be unlimited, but the knee injury derailed her for four weeks. That brought her climb to the upper echelon of state gymnasts to a screeching halt and she has been playing catch-up ever since.

And she’s been coming on strong.

It started at the Prospect Invitational in mid-January, a little more than a month after her injury. In her first meet back in the full rotation, Scala did not disappoint, winning the all-around and leading the Knights to the title.

“Gianna has been through a lot with her knee,” added junior Meggie Kania, who has also dealt with a back injury the past two seasons. “I just told her to hang in there and it will get better. She was able to push through it.”

“I think she is more determined and focused this year,” said senior Lauren Johnson of her teammate. “She has about the same skills as she had last year, but they’re just better. She’s worked on perfecting them.”

Scala kept the momentum building at the MSL meet, starting the night with a first-place finish on vault and ending it by bringing the home crowd to its feet with a dazzling first-place finish on the floor with an eye-popping 9.775.

“On that routine everything I did was big,” said Scala. “As soon as I hit my first pass, I felt so much confidence. I just wanted the rest of my routine to be huge and big to reflect how I felt.”

Scala kept rolling right through sectionals, where she added a double full to her first-place floor routine, adding a third-place finish on the beam and tying for fifth in the all-around.

“You can put the music on anywhere and any time and she picks it right up,” said Smith of his star sophomore’s state-worthy floor routine. “She does it so well, everything is perfect. It draws you in.”

The week before state, Smith took a moment to consider how far the Prospect program had come and the potential of Scala.

The Knights broke two school records, including hitting a 145.05 at sectionals, but fell just .325 points short of qualifying for its first state appearance.

And Scala, despite missing over a month of the season, also made plenty of progress. Her floor routine is comparable to some of the best in state and she continues to add to and polish her other events.

“It’s like a football team,” added Smith, “You get a great quarterback and you build the team around the quarterback. Gianna is our quarterback.”

After a frustrating regular season, the postseason has breathed new life into Scala, and she is making up for lost time.

“Since my season was cut short, the state series has kind of been like a new beginning,” added Scala, who is also a National Honor Society student and is sporting a spiffy 5.4 weighted grade-point average.

Yet the state meet will offer the biggest challenge Scala has faced all season. The field is loaded with the best of the best, but Scala aspires to join their ranks.

“I’m motivated,” added Scala, “After suffering the injury and seeing how well I came out of it, I can see my potential. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

The crutches are gone, the pony tail is back and Scala is once again standing tall.