Mundelein takes third in Bohl Invitational
Skills and routines continued to improve for area gymnasts Thursday night at the Bob Bohl Invitational in Mundelein.
Perennial power Lincoln-Way co-op showed why it is once again one of the teams to beat at the statewide level by rolling to the team title of the 16-team meet with 154.15 points.
Glenbrook North held off the host Mustangs 143.75 to 141.2 for second place, while Niles West outdistanced Stevenson 135.05 to 129.95 for fourth. Buffalo Grove (128.9) placed sixth.
The all-around competition was a good one with Lincoln-Way standout Anjari Cargle scoring 56.05 points (9.34 average) to topple Mundelein sophomore Colin McCarthy (8.73 average) in second place.
McCarthy’s performance included a winning 9.9 on floor exercise along with a winning mark of 9.55 with his new vault.
Mundelein senior Tim Beranek did compete on high bar, but he will be held out of competition for the next two weeks to nurse an injured wrist that has limited him the entire season.
“After two weeks we hope we can get him back for the remainder of the year,” said Mundelein coach Jesse Piland. “Colin was on his way to a 54 if not a 55. He just had a bad pommel horse routine. His new vault is a Kaz with a half twist and only a few gymnasts in the state do it.”
The Mustangs’ scoring also got a boost from all-rounder Cameron Mueller (45.05), who placed seventh overall.
“I fell twice on pommel horse and I hit it the day before in practice,” said McCarthy, who placed 17th in the state as a freshman. “I was pretty happy with my vault and I’m definitely going to be staying with that vault.”
Stevenson all-rounder Arie Feltman-Frank jammed his thumb on pommel horse to start the meet, limiting him to just three events. Feltman-Frank did win high bar with a 9.2.
“Overall the guys did pretty well so if (Feltman-Frank) would have competed on all of the events we probably would have had our highest score of the season,” said Stevenson coach Dexter Victoria. “Kyle (Weichselbaum) bobbled on pommel horse and we’re playing around with a lot of his routines so he’s a work in progress.”
Buffalo Grove’s solid effort was led by David Kavalerchik’s fifth-place 7.90 average in the all-around. Schaumburg’s Chris Stehlin (7.74 average) was sixth.
Buffalo Grove 2011 state floor exercise qualifier Julian Vasquez missed the meet due to a bruised heel that he sustained in a recent practice.
“David (Kavalerchik) had a few problems on pommel horse but he did pretty well on parallel bars and high bar,” said Buffalo Grove coach Chris Stevens. “We’re definitely improving, and we’re getting really close to that 130 mark. We just have to put a full meet together.”
Stehlin has been a very consistent gymnast for the Saxons, and he placed third on parallel bars with an 8.8. Schaumburg’s Mack McDougall missed the meet due to illness.
“We had a couple of uncharacteristic falls and missing McDougall probably cost us six or seven points,” said first-year Schaumburg coach Erik Bostrom, who is a 2000 Schaumburg graduate and former Saxon gymnast. “Chris Stehlin had a nice set on parallel bars and for the most part he hit his routines except rings and high bar.”
Schaumburg (122.2) placed eighth followed by Elk Grove (115.0) in ninth, and Hoffman Estates (114.73) in 11th.
Elk Grove’s Kenji Fukuda (8.9) placed second on pommel horse, while Mueller (8.95) placed third on still rings. McCarthy (9.0) took second on high bar with Rolling Meadows’ Matt Crigler (8.85) placing sixth on floor.
Hoffman Estates all-rounder Kyle Santiago competed in only four events due to a sprained ankle.
“We’re hoping that by next week Kyle will at least compete on everything,” said Hoffman Estates coach Ryan Brown, whose team is missing three key gymnasts. “He may not be at 100 percent next week, but we’re at least hoping to get him back on all of the events.”