OP_120816

44 | December 8, 2016 | The orland park prairie Sports
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Girls Gymnastics
Roe leads the way, but Sandburg-Stagg co-op falls
Frank Gogola
Freelance Reporter
Lincoln-Way co-op gymnastics
coach Kim Lago believes
this year’s squad is the
deepest team she has had in
her four years leading the
program.
That team opened the season
by beating Sandburg-
Stagg co-op 140.6 to 126.95
Nov. 29 at Lincoln-Way East.
Even without its top gymnasts
competing in all events,
that depth helped them overcome
the performance of
Sandburg junior Maddy Roe
— a returning state qualifier
who won two events and tied
for first in another.
Lincoln-Way outscored
Sandburg in all four events,
despite having an individual
win in only one event. It won
35.1 to 30.2 on bars, 34.95 to
30.9 on floor, 35.2 to 32 on
beam and 35.35 to 33.85 on
vault.
But when the team gets to
full strength, Lago said she
thinks it has the depth of talent
to get to the 145-point
mark she wants to see.
“I told the girls that if they
don’t get it done in practice,
they’re not going to be out
there,” Lago said. “The expectations
are set a little higher
this year because we have
more talent than we have in
the past, so I need them to
step it up and produce the
routines I want to see.”
Junior Una Farrell finished
tied for first on bars (9.1),
second on vault (9.15) and
third on beam (8.8) — the
last of which was an event in
which she placed 28th at state
this past season. She will add
floor as the season goes on,
Lago said.
Junior Gabby DeVito
finished third on bars (8.8)
and tied for fourth on vault
(8.6). DeVito sat out the floor
event, which she placed 26th
in at state last season.
On floor, junior Barb Belka
won (9.0) in her lone event,
while sophomore Korina Jarosz
placed third (8.65). Jarosz
also took third on vault
(9.0).
Senior Kara Auchstetter, a
sectional qualifier on beam,
took fourth (8.7) in the event.
Sandburg was led Roe,
who won on beam (9.4) and
vault (9.3), and tied for first
on bars (9.1). Roe’s fifthplace
finish on floor (8.35)
was a team high. She said she
“panicked” and “freaked out”
when she forgot the floor routine
she was performing for
the first time after not cleanly
pulling off her first landing.
“It was a little improv,”
Roe said.
“She was a hot mess on
the floor,” Sandburg assistant
coach Krystyn Misheck said.
Roe’s day started by crashing
into coach Mike White,
who was spotting her on bars.
She transferred from the low
bar to the high bar, and hit
White in the back of the thigh
with her hip on the swing
through. White ducked under
the low bar to get to the other
side of the high bar instead of
going around.
“I’ve never ducked under
like that,” White said. “I just
thought I could get there,
and I was wrong. We both
laughed it off and just moved
on from there. A lot of kids
would get shook and it would
just turn their whole day off
and nothing would go right
the rest of the day.”
Sandburg-Stagg co-op’s Maddy Roe performs Nov. 29
during a meet against the Lincoln-Way co-op.
Mark Korosa/22nd Century Media
Roe is coming off a season
in which she placed eighth
at state on vault and 11th on
beam. She took ninth allaround
at state after placing
21st in all-around as a freshman.
Outside of Roe, no other
Sandburg gymnast placed in
the Top 3 in any event. Sandburg
junior Toni Muzzo, a
sectional qualifier this past
year, didn’t join the team
this year, instead focusing on
getting a scholarship in pole
vaulting, Misheck said.
“It’s hard with just two
weeks and us not having
a gym to practice over the
summer,” Misheck said. “So,
they did pretty well for what
we’ve been given. They surprised
me on beam with how
confident they looked. Floor
and bars is endurance, so
that’s just getting reps.”
Athlete of the Month
Lockport swimmer wins November competition
Bill Jones, Managing Editor
Lindsey Merk already has a great way to
show just how talented a swimmer she is,
after taking home the bronze medal in the
100-yard butterfly from this year’s Illinois
High School Association State Swimming &
Diving Finals.
But in the event that she needs an insurance
policy, she also now can call herself 22nd
Century Media Southwest Chicago’s Athlete
of the Month for November, after earning the
most votes to take home the honor.
The Athlete of the Month competition pits
featured Athlete of the Week selections from
our south suburban newspapers against one
another in an online voting contest.
The next contest is to begin Saturday, Dec.
10.
To vote, visit OPPrairie.com, hover over
Lockport swimmer Lindsey Merk earned the
most votes to be named 22nd Century Media
Southwest Chicago’s November Athlete of
the Month. 22nd Century Media File Photo
the “Sports” menu tab and click “Athlete of
the Month.” Readers can vote once per session
per valid email address. Voting ends at
5 p.m. Dec. 25.
All athletes featured in the November Athlete
of the Week sports interviews are automatically
entered into the contest.
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