Bailey, Lake Zurich shine in NSC meet
Lake Zurich junior Kayla Bailey has dealt with an achy back and worked hard to get back in the gymnastics room.
Now she's seeing results.
Bailey shared top honors in the all-around with Lake Forest's Kristen Fisch during Thursday night's North Suburban Conference meet at Stevenson. Both gymnasts posted a 37.55 composite. For Bailey, it was her first time this season competing in the all-around.
She was out 6 months.
"I'm making my way through the pain, but it could be better," Bailey said. "I have been doing gymnastics for so long that it's actually been hurting for three years. Seven months ago I went to a doctor, and a couple months ago I was cleared to do some stuff. Now I can do most everything without hurting. I just have bulging disks from competing gymnastics over time."
Lake Zurich earned its first NSC championship with a season-high score of 145.7, finishing ahead of Lake Forest (145.3). Stevenson (143.2) was third, Mundelein (143.1) was fourth, Libertyville (136.1) took fifth, and Warren (131.5) placed sixth.
In the overall standings, Lake Zurich, Mundelein and Stevenson entered in a three-way tie in the duals during the season. The Bears landed first with 11, Stevenson (9) was second, Mundelein and Lake Forest tied for third with 8 points each, Libertyville (4) was fifth (4) and Warren (2) sixth.
"The girls did amazing and came out here making 19 out of 20 routines," Lake Zurich coach Chelsea Groteleuschen said. "That was a big deal. We started on bars (37) and they had the best bars day of their life. At the start of the season, we were predicting that we would be peaking at this time of year. I'm not surprised where they're at. They are working so hard in and out of the gym. It was a huge score and they know where we are at and are doing great."
Bailey was also second on vault (9.6) behind the Scouts' Kristin Frisch (9.7), second on bars (9.4) and second on floor (9.4).
Grace Lacrosse chalked up the top spot on the bars with a 9.45 to lead the Bears.
"It feels real good. I love when I'm on the bars, when the whole team is [cheering] me," Lacrosse said. "It's the best feeling ever and I think it motivates me to help my team."
Kelsey Rothas of Lake Zurich was fourth on floor (9.2), and AJ Burk finished in a fifth place tie with Lake Forest's Reagan Fisch (9.15).
Stevenson's Emily Weinstein was third in the all-around (37.35) ahead of Reagan Fisch (37.0) and Libertyville's Anna Becker.
Weinstein was also second on beam (9.4), third on vault (9.45), tied for third on bars with Becker (9.35) and finished in a fifth-place tie with Mundelein's Emma Hallin on floor (9.15).
Hallin placed fourth on vault (9.4) ahead of teammate Emily Weiss, who tied for fifth with Stevenson's Ashley Schabes (9.35).
The Mustangs' Elle Mishler placed third on beam (9.35) and teammate Audrey Kafka was fifth (9.2)