Fremd reaches goal, grabs third place at state meet

Fremd extended itself to the limit this year, but in the end the Vikings reached their goal.

Fremd wobbled a bit with early season injuries, and many Vikings gymnasts were asked to step into different roles.

The Vikings entered Saturday in third place, but only advanced one gymnast to finals and had to watch patiently as Prairie Ridge Co-op and Glenbard West completed their performance.

But in the end the Viking were still standing, taking third at the girls gymanstic state finals with 145.925 points in Palatine.

"It's not how you would draw it up," said Fremd coach Jim Guest of the Vikings' journey to its 20th state trophy. "But nevertheless, we'll take it. We're fortunate to be on the podium, but it's been a lot of hard work."

Carmel won its third state title with 147.250 points followed by Lyons (146.775 points).

Fremd scored all of its points in Fridays preliminaries and made it hold up on Saturday as Prairie Ridge Co-op (145.825 points) finished .10 behind and Glenbard West (145.65 points) finished .275 points behind.

Senior Caitlin Golota came into the season with a bit of unfinished business. Last year Golota missed the state meet due to an ankle injury. Adding insult to injury, the Vikings finished in fourth place behind Glenbard North by .10 points.

This year Golota took care of business by taking fifth on the bars (9.45) and helping the Vikings secure their trophy.

"That was my goal from the beginning of the season, to get on the podium for the team," added an emotional Golota, who earned her first individual state medal. "Being able to contribute to the program, it's a dream come true. I'm glad I was able to keep the tradition alive."

But it was a total team effort that received contributions from juniors Maegan Wochinski, Allysia VanDuch, and Kelsey Onesto, sophomore twins Stephanie and Elizabeth Uhrich, and freshman Emily Pinderski.

"Everyone stepped up to the plate," said Wochinski of the Vikings' drive. "And it just wasn't for state; it was from meet to meet."

And in the end the Vikings were once again able to step up to the podium for the trophy.

Prairie Ridge Co-op junior Jenny Covers took first on the floor exercise (9.625) and vault (9.80), Warren senior Kim Gotlund added to her all-around title by taking first on the bars (9.65), and Stevenson sophomore Ali Castriano took first on the beam (9.65).

Wheeling's Amy Burke didn't quite have the sectional meet she had hoped for, advancing to state only on the vault. But the Wildcat senior made it count by taking a third-place medal, scoring a 9.70 using a Yurchenko layout.

"It's awesome," added Burke who won the first state gymnastics medal for Wheeling since Wendy Lahucik won four of them in 1991. "Obviously it was upsetting that I didn't do as best as I could at sectionals, but it allowed me to focus and really get this vault that I wanted to do."

Khrystyna Lychagina came back from an inconsistent junior season, using a solid flip-flop series to take third on the balance beam (9.425) for Leyden..

"I was nervous," said Lychagina, who earned Leyden's first state gymnastics medal. "But I've been working all season for this and I got it."

Maine South senior Paula Papaioannou took fifth on the floor (9.40), securing the first state medal for the Hawks' program.

"It's a great feeling," added Papaioannou, "I just wanted to get the high school experience and to get a medal is quite an honor."

Schaumburg's Ashley Miller had made huge strides this season, especially on bars, and the Saxon sophomore was in the midst of a solid routine in the finals on bars before slipping on the dismount and finishing in 11th place (8.675).

"I went to do my dismount and my hands just slipped right off," said Miller, who was the first Saxons to advance to the finals since Colleen Neubauer advanced on the floor in 1995. "I'm sad that it happened, but I'm happy that I made it to finals."