LHS gymnastics program started off in great hands
• The following is part of an ongoing series of articles in celebration of Libertyville High School's 100th anniversary.
The Libertyville High School gymnastics program began in the 1978-79 school year under the direction of head coach Paul Blasko, who was in his third year teaching at LHS. Curt Austin, a first-year teacher, was his assistant.
Both coaches had amazing gymnastics backgrounds. At West Mifflin South High School, Blasko qualified for state all four years, winning 12 state medals and placing second in the state All-Around his senior year in 1970.
Receiving a scholarship at Indiana State University, Blasko qualified for the NCAA meet each of his college years. He was the ISU team captain and Most Valuable Gymnast his senior year in 1974, and was a finalist for the Nissen Award, the NCAA gymnastics equivalent of the Heisman.
After two years as a grad assistant at Northern Illinois University, earning his master's degree and coaching the Huskie gymnasts, Blasko took a driver education teaching job at LHS for the 1976-77 school year.
He ran a gymnastics club at LHS for the two years before the team became official. He was the boys diving coach for his first 10 years at LHS.
During his 19 years as the LHS gymnastics coach, Blasko sent six teams to state, taking third in 1993 and 1995. Paul coached 23 All-State gymnasts, including Shane Sanders, who won the 1981 and 1982 floor exercise titles, and Tom McDonough, who won the 1985 pommel horse title.
Blasko stepped down from coaching at LHS after the 1997 season to coach with the Antioch girls team, where his daughters were team members. He retired from teaching after the 2009 school year and currently lives on his southern Indiana farm, enjoying the outdoors.
Austin had significant informal training at a very young age as his father was a gymnastics coach (his playpen had a trampoline bottom). He began competition as a freshman at York High School in Elmhurst.
His first All-State honor came in the trampoline his sophomore year when he took third. He won the floor exercise title the next two years, finishing ahead of third-place finisher and future Olympic champion Bart Conner (Niles West) in his 1974 senior year.
Austin earned a scholarship to compete for Iowa State, where he earned All-American honors three years and won the 1978 NCAA floor exercises title.
Austin assumed the boys head position in 1998. In his 14 years, six of his teams qualified for the state tournament. His 2006 team finished third, where he coached his son Aaron and Eric Schmitz to a state second-place tie in the vault. He coached Mike Headley (2002 floor) and Craig Breckinridge (2011 floor) to state titles.
After three years as the girls assistant, Austin took over the head girls position in 1982. He coached the girls for 23 years. Six of his teams qualified for state. His 1987 and 1988 teams took third in the state.
His top girls gymnast was Alex Haraldsson, who won the 1987 all-around and beam titles. One of his All-Staters is Tiffany Rafiner (Owens), who just finished her sixth season as the LHS head coach and is an LHS biology teacher.
Austin retired from teaching after the 2011 school year. In his retirement, he judges high school gymnastics, coaches at Kids in Action Gymnastics, and subs at District 128.