Schaumburg's Rothmeyer nails it at regional
Alexis Rothmeyer showed that she has recovered quite nicely.
The Schaumburg sophomore missed two weeks of the girls gymnastics season while battling the flu in late January. She came back last week and competed in the Mid-Suburban League conference meet, where she was able to win the balance beam.
Rothmeyer won the beam again Thursday at the IHSA regional meet at Maine South in Park Ridge. She also showed she was all the way back, winning the bars and capturing the all-around title for good measure.
"I am feeling really good right now," said Rothmeyer, who scored a 9.35 on the beam, a 9.30 on the bars and a 36.95 in the all-around.
"I was really sick. I had the flu and missed a couple of weeks. I have been working hard and I feel like I am back to 100 percent."
With Rothmeyer leading the way, Schaumburg made a strong run at the final at-large position for next week's sectional, which the Saxons will host. Despite hitting 19 of 20 of their routines, the Saxons fell a bit short, scoring a 139.05. They needed to top Barrington's score of 140.275, which the Fillies posted in their regional on Monday.
"Performance-wise we had our best meet yet," Schaumburg coach Amber Mirski said. "The girls did their job. That is all they can do. The goal was to be at sectionals, but we will have some individual competitors there as well.
Joining Rothmeyer will be Chali Bauman, Donna-Rose Reyna and Amelia Mazelkis.
Rolling Meadows struggled in its final meet as a team. The Mustangs scored a 134.125, but will also send a number of individuals to the sectional. Nicole Kane, Caitlin Widawski, Melina Moreno and Jenna Byrne all qualified.
"It was a rough night for us," Rolling Meadows coach Michael Costa said. "They got into a big meet like this and the pressure may have got to them a bit. But we did get some people through to the next round and that is exciting."
Maine South, which was fifth in the state last year, lost most of that team to graduation. Still the Hawks were able to come up with a very respectable 132.25. Both Susie Currey and Annie Middendorf qualified for the sectional meet.
"It took a while for our team to gel," Maine South coach Tessa Robinson said. "We had a good meet for us for where we have been all season. We are glad to get a couple of people through to sectionals."
Prairie Ridge co-op won the regional title with a 145.525. The Wolves will join regional winners Lake Zurich, Conant and Palatine along with at-large teams from Fremd and Barrington next Wednesday for the sectional at Schaumburg at 6 p.m.
Prairie Ridge was led by Gracie Willis, who was second in the all-around with a 36.85 and won the floor with a 9.575. Gabriella Riley was third in the all-around with a 36.55 and won the vault with a 9.50. Sydney Hallsten was fourth in the all-around with a 35.775.
The cutoff scores for individuals also were determined. They are 33.875 for the all-around, 9.00 for the vault, 8.325 for the bars, 8.55 for the beam and 8.60 for the floor.