Palatine wins MSL crown
After school ended on Friday, Fremd’s Bobby Wongkamalasai found himself sitting in the cool April weather on his back patio.
“I just need to cool down,” Wongkamalasai said. “I was feeling all keyed up for the meet tonight, so I just need a place to relax.”
The break did Wongkamalasai good as the senior came away with a pair of first-place finishes at the boys’ Mid Suburban League gymnastics championships at Hersey in Arlington Heights.
“I really wanted to defend my titles,” said Wongkamalasai, who won the floor and vault for the second consecutive year. “I haven’t been able to put good performances together in both events at the same meet this year. But I did it tonight. I was really in the zone tonight.”
Wongkamalasai along with C.J. Patton, who was third in the all-around with a 49.10 and Quin Bley, who was second in parallel bars, helped the Vikings to a second-place finish with a 143.55 to finish behind Palatine’s 150.175.
“It was a good meet for us,” Fremd coach Tim Hamman said. “We had lots of things go right for us today.”
Palatine also had many things go correctly as it busted over that mystical 150 barrier.
“It kind of surprised us,” Palatine coach Scott Hagel said. ‘We knew we were having a pretty good meet and we really weren’t paying attention to the scores. I had to count up the scores three times before I knew it was true.”
It was easy for Hagel to count Jonah Hinz’s scores. Once again, the junior put together another solid meet, winning the all-around with a 53.875.
“It was pretty good overall for me tonight,” said Hinz, who also won the high bar with a 9.05 and had two seconds and two thirds. “My routines are getting a lot more consistent now and I am keeping my form better as well. I am able to hit my routines every time.”
The Pirates also got a big performance from Matt Lee, who was fifth in the all-around with a 47.50, along with Austin Hoening, who was eighth on the vault, and Mike Jankovec, who was eighth on the high bar.
Also in good form was Buffalo Grove’s David Kavalerchik, who was second in the all-around with a career-best 51.55.
“The crowd had me pumped up today,” said Kaverlerchik, who won the still rings with an 8.85. “I couldn’t get into the shoot during warmups. But during my routine I got nice and high and the crowd was making so much noise that I knew I would do well.”
Buffalo Grove’s Julian Vasquez, who has been on the slow mend since bruising his heel early in the year, was second to Wongkamalasai on the floor with a 9.60. Vasquez, along with Kavalerchik and Nick Balko, who was 10th in the all-around with a 43.30, were the main reason that Buffalo Grove was able to score a season-best 140.45.
“This is a great feeling,” said Buffalo Grove coach Chris Stevens, whose Bison improve nearly nine points from their last meet two weeks ago.
“It was the whole team pulling together. They just really stepped it up and made very little mistakes tonight.”
Elk Grove’s Kenji Fukuda also made very fesw mistakes while staking claim to the pommel horse title with a 9.25 to edge Hinz, who had a 9.20.
“I was more consistent,” Fukuda said. “Even the places where I messed up and should have fallen, I kept it tight and fought through it.”
The most surprised winner was Hoffman Estates’ Kyle Santiago, who won the parallel bars with a career-best 8.75.
“I wasn’t happy with my rings, so I really pushed myself hard on the p-bars,” said a smiling Santiago, who was also fourth in the all-around with a 48.40. “This was the best I ever did on that and I want to do it again.”