Girls gymnastics: Warren's Albert is happy to be at it again
Teagon Albert is glad to be competing in girls gymnastics once again - and she's having more fun this time around.
The Warren senior had to miss all of last year after fracturing her back during the summer before her junior year. That forced her out of not only gymnastics, but also a spring soccer season.
But she's worked her way back into swing of things in gymnastics, on the heels of reaching the diving state finals in the fall.
Albert only competed in three events, skipping the vault on Saturday in the New Trier Holiday invitational in Winnetka. But she was strong in all three, taking second on the floor exercise (9.4) right behind Carleigh Pistorious of Maine South (9.45). And Albert landed sixth on balance beam (9.35) and came up with an 8.75 on the uneven bars.
"It's painful and frustrating not being able to do what I used to do," Albert said. "It's nice to come back with my teammates around me, and with my coach's support.
"I still have pain - it's more of a mental thing. It's not making excuses for yourself. That's a big part of it."
Albert worked each routine hard and just missed a top-five finish on the beam. The smile on her face was clear evidence that she was enjoying being back in action.
"I was happy with the beam, and I thought our team did a good job in general, and we had a lot of confidence," Albert said.
New Trier won its own invitational for the first time in 28 years with a 146.55. That bettered Carmel Catholic (144.8), Maine South (142.375), Fremd (141.3) and Stevenson (136.6) in the eight-team field.
Carmel's score was its best of the season.
"We have an amazing group of kids - so disciplined, hard-working and sweet," Carmel coach Sarah Mikrut Doyle said. "So with us, we need to clean things up whether or not we add a skill here and there. I thought what we did here was closer to what we can do. We have good people with huge hearts."
The Corsairs' Isabella Kropiweic grabbed the top spot on the bars with a 9.3. She landed second on vault (9.6) behind New Trier's Darcy Barkal (9.65) and finished second in the all-around (37.0), just behind New Trier's Maeve Murdock (9.65).
"I thought my bars were good, because I hit my routine," Kropiweic said. "In practice, I've been working really hard making everything nice and clean. On the vault, I've been focusing on my landings."
Others top-five finishers for Carmel included Kelly Gustafson, who finished fifth on both vault (9.3) and floor (9.25). Kyla Rapplean tied for third on bars (9.2) with Melanie Ng of Fremd and Kiarra Harrast of Hinsdale Central.
Stevenson's Emily Weinstein posted a career-best effort on the beam, scoring 9.6 to take second behind Murdock (9.65). Weinstein also placed third in the all-around (36.6) and said her beam result was especially encouraging.
"I've been working hard on a lot of things," Weinstein said. "It's been coming along and getting better with each one."
Fremd has been improving steadily since the season's start. Gianna Christodoulopoulos was again a leader on this day and finished fifth on the beam (9.4).
"I think we're in a pretty good spot right now," Fremd coach Kacey Kronforst said. "We added three new skills. We're trying to find ourselves and get ourselves going. Abby Moran was able to get back into the lineup since rolling an ankle on day two of practice - she competed on beam and floor.
"I'm really proud of all the girls that have stepped up, plugging in the spots. We're still working some new skills, with two and a half weeks off until the next meet. It's good to see all the other teams, to see where we line up and see if we're on the right track."