Big finish for state champ Stevenson
Stevenson's small-sized yet highly skilled boys gymnastics team was on a championship quest Friday at Hinsdale Central in the state finals.
The Patriots more than met the challenge with a fine performance under pressure.
Stevenson came up big when the chips were down, securing the program's fifth state title by what proved to be a fairly comfortable margin.The Patriots finished at 151.65 while Wheaton co-op, which was going after a fourth straight state title, was second at 149.4.
Stevenson led Wheaton 127.75-125.65 heading into the final event, still rings, and outscored its foe 24.4- 23.75.
Niles West held off Willowbrook 149.0 to 148.55 to capture the third-place trophy, marking the Wolves' first top-three finish since taking second in 1975 on a team led by Olympian Bart Connor.
Fifth-place Glenbard West (148.25), and sixth-place Deerfield (147.6) were not far behind, while seventh-place Fremd (142.4), and Schaumburg (140.3) rounded out the Elite Eight field.
Niles West's Nomondalai Jamiyankhuu was the all-around champion with 52.7 points followed by Wheaton co-op's Ben Szot (52.55) in second, and surprising Dundee-Crown junior Satchel Hudson (51.95) in third.
Stevenson's push to the title was led by senior Arie Feltman-Frank (51.3), who placed fifth in the all-around. Sophomore Matt Krames (50.75) placed sixth for the Patriots while senior teammate Elijah Klaber (49.6) was 12th.
Not only was it a great day for the Stevenson boys gymnastics program, the Pats joined their football team and basketball team as state champions during the 2014-15 school year.
“It wasn't a very pretty meet, but we muscled through it and we're only the second team ever to go to the state meet with only three kids, so this is a really neat thing not only to get to state, but to win it,” said Stevenson coach Eric Liva. “I think this is great for Stevenson — it's a testament to how well the Stevenson athletic program is run, and it all starts at the top with (athletic director) Trish (Betthauser).”
The championship adds to what had already been a memorable year for the Liva family. Eric's daughter Dana, a senior at Prospect High School, won the diving state title in November at Evanston.
One key to Stevenson's performance was pommel horse. After only scoring 22.05 points at the sectional, Stevenson scored 24.2 points on the event Friday to set the tone for what proved to be the winning combination to its ninth top-three trophy dating back to 1999.
“It wasn't our best meet and we had some rough edges, but we were able to pick ourselves up,” said Feltman-Frank, whose teams took third as a sophomore, second as a junior, and first as a senior. “We had our two best events last (parallel bars and high bar), and it just feels amazing because all season we've been working for this one thing.”
After competing at state as a freshman, Hudson did not compete as a sophomore due to a back injury.
But he made up for a lot of lost time Friday as he soared to third place in the state with key scores of 9.35 on vault and 9.05 on floor exercise.
“It's a great feeling coming back from an injury and getting to finish that high on the podium,” said Hudson, who placed sixth in the state on vault as a freshman. “I just want to do the best vault I can (Saturday), and I hope to make finals on all four of my events.”
Fremd's first trip to state was led by sophomore Eric Barnd, who placed 18th in the all-around.
“It was a great experience for them to be here, and they're a young team so the heart of our team is coming back,” said Fremd coach Tim Hamman. “They can learn from this, and Barnd is very eager to learn and get better because he definitely works very hard.”
Schaumburg was making its first Elite Eight appearance since coach Erik Bostrom was a junior on the Saxons' 1999 squad. And Schaumburg assistant coach Howard Rubin was the head coach when Schaumburg last reached state.
“I'm really happy that we got here,” said Bostrom. “This was our goal to make it, and this was only the second time we made it in school history. I utilize (Rubin's) expertise, so it's nice to have him around.”
Palatine sophomore Prakash Nigam (50.65) placed seventh in the all-around.
Mundelein's Brandon Swanson (50.25) was ninth, and Cary-Grove's Luka Sisauri (48.05) in 20th. Mundelein sophomore Greg Godellas placed 26th while Hersey's Matt Phelps was 28th.
“I had a pretty good meet today — thankfully I didn't fall on anything,” Nigam said. “I was only a tenth or two from fifth place, so it was kind of disappointing not getting a medal.”
Mundelein coach Jesse Piland sees a bright future for his young Mustangs squad.
“Brandon (Swanson) and Greg (Godellas) pretty much hit as well as they've done all year,” Piland said. “A top-10 finish for (Swanson) gives us some good reason to be hopeful for next year.”
Saturday's individual event preliminary round begins at noon with the state finals on floor and pommel horse starting at 7 p.m.