Wheaton co-op celebrates seniors
The IHSA state girls gymnastics finals would have been held last Friday and Saturday at Palatine where they have been since 1979.
Without a doubt the tournament would've been as exciting as ever, with a number of interesting local stories likely to unfold via amazing performances from standouts like Glenbard West's Anna Diab, Glenbard North's Sarah Ozeki and Glenbard East's Kali Kartheiser and Rebecca Honig. Equally competitive would've been the battle at sectionals for teams vying to get to Palatine with Downers Grove co-op, Glenbard East, Glenbard West and Lake Park likely in the hunt.
Through Feb. 23, Lake Park's 140.5 is the highest score among DuPage area teams, but not by much. Glenbard West (139.85), Glenbard East (139.8) and Downers Grove co-op (137.5) are all right there and in such a strange season like this one, it's difficult to truly project where these teams likely could've finished. But, it is safe to say they'd share a spot in the ballpark, safely six feet away from one another.
Since there was no state meet and teams are trying to cram in a season in a short time, a few DuPage teams were even in action last weekend. On Friday, Downers Grove co-op beat Addison Trail, 133.35 to 125.65 while Naperville North hosted Geneva on Saturday, falling 135.65 to 126.45.
Celebrating Wheaton's seniors
Wheaton co-op will recognize its four seniors on March 3 during its meet against Lake Park.
The squad's seniors include Annie McBride, Julia Ripp, Kate Weber, all who attend Wheaton Warrenville South, and Wheaton North's Sophia Moody.
“Even though we don't have the culminating event of a state series we still have an opportunity to celebrate a lifetime in the sport of gymnastics,” Wheaton co-op coach Maureen Kermend said.
Better Tardy than no season
As an accomplished gymnast herself at Naperville Central, Christina Tardy can relate well to her athletes. But nothing had her ready for a season like this one, so she's improvised.
“It's insane that we're making it work,” she said. “The girls are handling it really well. Just six weeks ago we were kind of doing Zoom check-ins with them to keep them positive because we weren't even sure we were coming back.”
Now with the shortened season finishing up, Tardy is happy to have some of her top gymnasts returning from injuries for the last stretch.
“Delaney Sterr will be back and Namrata (Bhattacharjee) is coming back too,” Tardy said “Tammy (Bajek) is working on harder skills. We have a great group of kids who are happy to be back and working hard.”
Particularly challenging during a season like this is getting the less experienced kids quality time in the gym, including those with little to no gymnastics experience at all.
“We have a lot of girls without a lot of gymnastics experience,” Tardy said. “It's been tricky trying to get them to compete at the level that we want them to. They've been very receptive and working super hard.”
Senior Lancers lead the way
Lake Park seniors Aleka Gierasiumiuk, Olivia Perez and Racquel Suhr may have received a tough break in their final year as high school gymnastics, but are scoring a perfect 10 this winter according to coach Jake Luketin.
“It's a tough year for those three girls who had hoped for more season, but I think the girls are appreciative to get anything,” he said. “They are such amazing leaders for the underclassmen. We've hosted three meets already and they've been setting up meets quicker than ever before. It's kind of cool to see how they pulled together with whatever season they were going to get and so far they're doing a great job.”
It took some time to cultivate it, but there's excellent team culture among Luketin's Lancers.
“It took some time to build and now we keep building layers and layers,” he said. “There's a corny phrase I've used on awards night where ‘if you go here four years and all you learn is gymnastics skills and routines then we've done a poor job coaching you.' It's the hard lessons you learn; the hard times where you persevere.”
Mini state in Glen Ellyn on Saturday
While Glenbard East, North, South and West kids are in the same district, some of the top gymnasts at the respective schools have trained together or crossed paths at Palmer's Gymnastics in Bloomingdale.
On Saturday, they'll face off in arguably the biggest meet they'll have this strange season.
“It's like a mini state,” Panthers coach Dennis Wellman said. “It's going to be electrifying. Sarah (Ozeki) is pumped up to compete against other athletes she practices with at club. I really think she's more excited for District 87 than for conference.”
The last time Glenbard East and Glenbard West went head-to-head, the Rams prevailed 145.075 to 143.225 to win the Glenbard South sectional last February to advance to state.
“It's the closest we get to an invite or a big meet for us,” Hilltoppers coach Carlos Fuentes said. “It's going to be exciting and it's important for the kids for bragging rights.”