Naperville North to salute its pros

Wheaton North's Julie Galo cannot imagine losing the sport she's enjoyed since kindergarten.

"It defines me," said the senior gymnast, in the same boat as many other girls who performed their final routines before heading into college.

Galo's Wheaton co-op team of Wheaton North and Wheaton Warrenville South athletes competes Thursday at Glenbard West in the last of four sectional meets to decide the field for the Feb. 19-20 state finals at Palatine.

But now is not the time for remorse or reflection, other than visualizing perfection.

"If you have any doubt in your mind going into a skill, or in anything, it's going to mess you up in some way," said Galo, who trained with two private gymnastics facilities - five hours a day, six days a week, year-round - before settling in with Wheaton co-op as a freshman.

Messed up? She's been there. Broken hand, broken wrist, shin splints. Heart-to-heart coach confabs when she felt like giving up. Falls, too numerous to count in the privacy of practice.

Last Wednesday at the Glenbard West regional, in fact, Galo fell off the balance beam, knocking her out of advancement.

"There's been points where I've been defeated," she said.

But as they say in the movies, not on this day. She earned second-place finishes on vault and floor exercise, the event in which Galo advanced to last year's state meet.

She also advanced to sectional on parallel bars and - along with Glenbard West seniors Amber Broucek and Sarah DeStefano and Wheaton freshman Jillian Horvatin - finished top five in all-around, all behind Hilltoppers freshman sensation Maddie Diab.

"It's such an incredible feeling when you perform well and you perform a routine you've done in practice, and you've done your best. It makes up for everything," Galo said.

Looking ahead, she'd like to stay in the sport as a coach. A team captain with Wheaton Warrenville South senior Petrino Chino, Galo is getting a crash course in that with Wheaton North freshman Macy Smykal, who advanced to sectional in beam and floor. Galo drives her to and from school and in practice tries to focus the youngster's huge energy.

"It's nice having freshmen there. They make things a lot more fun," the senior said.

And that - not injuries, inner turmoil or even scores - is what high school athletics are supposed to be about.

"Obviously, I want to go to state, but I'm OK if I end my gymnastics career at this (sectional)," Galo said. "Whether it's good or bad, I'm super-proud of myself."

Huskies in the Pros

Naperville North will soon add three jerseys to its "Huskies in the Pros" display.

At halftime of Friday's varsity boys basketball game against Neuqua Valley, 2011 graduates Sammy Marshall (Chicago Bandits) and Matt LaCosse (New York Giants) and 2010 grad James O'Shaughnessy (Kansas City Chiefs) will be presented with their framed professional jerseys for display in the school.

LaCosse and O'Shaughnessy each finished rookie seasons at tight end for their respective NFL teams. Marshall appeared in 25 games for the Bandits in her rookie year, the softball team's go-to speedster.

Before the halftime jersey presentation the three former Huskies will sit for a question-and-answer session 5:30-6:30 p.m. Friday in the Naperville North field house, then are available for autographs. Collect them all.

Special honor

Congratulations to Metea Valley special education teacher and Special Olympics coach Mike Ackerman for receiving the Indian Prairie Educational Foundation and District 204 "A+ Award" on Feb. 3 in an assembly at the Aurora school.

The fifth-year teacher coaches five Special Olympics sports and presents the annual Pack the Stands event, which on Jan. 7 featured Metea's Special Olympics basketball teams playing against members of Metea's faculty and staff.

Ackerman received a record 14 nominations for the honor, awarded monthly to a District 204 staff member. Wells Fargo Advisors donates $500 to the honored staffer for use at his or her school.

Going for it

As a track and cross country runner for the University of Washington, Lindsay Flanagan completed at the University of Southern California.

The 25-year-old Lake Park graduate hopes experiencing those warm conditions and twisty course is an advantage this Saturday when she faces the uphill battle of the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Los Angeles.

Flanagan is better positioned than most of the 202 women who by Wednesday had declared their intention to run the race. She has the 20th best time among women who had qualified via full marathon (for the first time, half-marathon times also were accepted) at 2 hours, 33 minutes, 12 seconds. Only three will qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team that competes this summer in Rio de Janeiro.

Flanagan, who lives in Washington, D.C., ran that time in her first marathon, the Chevron Houston Marathon on Jan. 19, 2015. Since then she earned silver at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto, and on Jan. 17 ran a half marathon in Houston, her time of 1:12.05 a new personal record.

"Obviously everyone wants to be in that top three," said Flanagan, sponsored by Mizuno. "I just want to go out there and put myself in it and really just give it everything I have the whole time."

Mike Popejoy sounds a little wary about that "whole time" business. Though the 2004 Wheaton Warrenville South graduate now lives in Flagstaff, Arizona, projected 80-degree temperatures in Los Angeles and 26.2 miles don't mix well.

"It's the national championship for this year, so if I can run 2:17 or so, maybe 2:16 and get in the top 50, I'd be happy with that," Popejoy said Wednesday as he was heading to California. "Get a negative split at the end, top some people at the end instead of being the one that's falling apart."

Aided by sponsors such as Janji, a running apparel company that supports clean water projects, Popejoy went to the well to reach the Trials' "B" standard of 1:05.00 at the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota, on June 21, 2015. (Popejoy's father, Ken, ran against Bjorklund while he was at the University of Michigan and Bjorklund at Minnesota.)

Coming around a bend heading into the final straightaway in Duluth, Mike Popejoy saw the digital timer at the finish, his window closing fast. He crossed the line in 1:04.56.

"It's probably the fastest I've sprinted at the end of a race in a while," said Popejoy, who went 2:24.10 over the full distance at the Columbus (Ohio) Marathon on Oct. 18.

Popejoy concedes it'd be "something crazy or a miracle" to gain a top-three slot and go to Rio. But what's the Olympics if not a whole sequence of miracles?

"I'm just excited and I'm grateful for the opportunity," Flanagan said. "It's pretty incredible, something that just comes once every four years, so I want to make the most of the experience and really enjoy it while I'm out there."

doberhelman@dailyherald.com

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