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mokenamessenger.com sports
the Mokena Messenger | January 19, 2017 | 47
fastbreak Gymnastics
With talent and grit, Farrell eyes state final
Adam Jomant/22nd Century
Media
1st-and-3
Central hoopers
1. Aaron Michalak
(ABOVE)
The Lincoln-Way
Central guard
scored 12 points,
including a layup
and a 3-pointer
on consecutive
possessions to bring
the Knights within
two points of Bloom
Jan. 10.
2. Courteney Barnes
In a close 49-41
win over Thornton
Jan. 10, the senior
led the team with
18 points. It was
her team’s third
consecutive win,
including the thirdplace
game in the
Medieval Classic.
3. Luke Handley
The Knights junior
scored nine points
in the close 58-
54 loss to Bloom,
providing coach Bob
Curran with valuable
minutes off the
bench.
Lincoln-Way co-op
junior hoping for
third straight state
appearance
Frank Gogola
Freelance Reporter
Listen Up
“We’ve played a lot of close games this year. Our
record could be a lot different. We just [have] to
work on finishing.”
Aaron Michalak - Lincoln-Way Central point guard, on his
assessment of the Knights’ season following a close loss to
Bloom
Lincoln-Way co-op junior
Una Farrell couldn’t watch
the second day of competition
at the gymnastics state
meet last year.
It’s not that the allarounder
was too distraught
by being eliminated in preliminaries
the day before
and couldn’t bear to watch
the finals. She had to head
home to help younger sister
Faustina Farrell get prepared
for TWIRP, a Lincoln-Way
West dance, later that night.
Her eagerness to return to
state and put together a better
performance led to offseason
work that focused on adding
new skills and improving
current ones. Her success as
an underclassman was based
on youth-level work and raw
talent, but with back-to-back
state appearances ending after
one day, she’s made it a
goal to reach the second day
of competition.
“She’s very hard on herself,”
Lincoln-Way coach
Kim Lago said. “She has
high expectations for herself.
When an athlete has
their own expectations and
then you throw a coach’s
expectations on top of that,
it really formulates a great
athlete, because you’re holding
them to a standard and
they’re also holding themselves
to a standard.”
Farrell’s focus heading
into the season was on improving
her floor routine.
She felt like she let the team
down last year as she struggled
to score team points on
floor at meets.
She added a front full and
a back full and half to her
routine, and is working on
adding a double pike. Those
improvements have resulted
in a high score of 9.025 and
no scores below 8.65, as of
Jan. 10.
“Over the summer, I made
it a goal that I wanted to
get my scores counted in
the lineup,” Farrell said. “I
wanted to prove myself.”
On bars, she added bail.
It’s a release move that satisfies
the half-turn and release
requirements, and it has added
0.4 points to her score.
“Last year she was a great
competitor, really consistent,”
Lago said. “These new
skills have brought her to another
level this year.”
Farrell worked on those
moves during the offseason
at FlipStar Gymnastics
Academy in New Lenox,
where she practices with
most of her teammates.
FlipStar is where Farrell
got her first taste of gymnastics.
She took up the sport in
first grade after seeing her
older sister, Fionnuala, doing
it. They competed together
in grade school before Fionnuala
went to high school and
joined the cheer team.
TUNE IN
Boys Swimming and Diving
Friday, Jan. 20 and Saturday, Jan. 21
• The Lincoln-Way Central boys swimming
and diving team will compete with area
teams at the Lockport Invitational. The
diving portion starts at 5 p.m. Friday, and
swimming starts at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Farrell scored a 9.25 on balance beam Jan. 7 at the Sandburg Invite, her highest score of
the season. 22nd Century Media File Photo
“I was really jealous of her,
so I wanted to be just like my
older sister,” Farrell said. “I
thought it was so cool how
she could go out and compete
and get medals. I just wanted
to emulate her.”
Farrell found immediate
success in high school. She
said she was taken aback
when she made state as a
freshman, finishing 32nd
on vault. The state showing
was impressive: she had just
learned vault during the summer
heading into high school.
She followed up that performance
with a 28th-place
finish at state on balance
beam as a sophomore. For
the competitor who said she
lacks confidence on beam
despite her performance, the
finish came as a shock.
“I was just happy to make
it last year,” Farrell said. “I
was very surprised that it
was beam I made it for. I was
proud of myself for even
getting there, so I didn’t let it
get to me that I didn’t make
it to the second day.”
Her desire to succeed
meant setting a goal to advance
to the second day at
state, which would mean a
top-10 finish. She also wants
to help the team make the
trip, which is where her skill
additions and refinements as
an all-arounder can aid in
team scoring.
She continues to work on
perfecting vault, her best
event, and has scored a 9.15
or higher at every meet this
season with a best of 9.4.
On beam, she hadn’t
Index
42 – Athlete of the Week
41 - Lincoln-Way Central Wrestling
scored higher than an 8.95
until she put up a 9.25 at the
Sandburg Invite on Jan. 7.
It was at Sandburg where
Farrell put together her best
all-around performance. She
took third place (season-high
35.875) against state-level
competition from Sandburg
and Downers Grove South.
“Her biggest advantage
is her consistency and the
high expectations she sets
for herself and holds herself
to,” Lago said. “I don’t
think she realizes how good
she is. That’s sometimes better
when an athlete doesn’t
know how good they are because
then they work harder
because they don’t think
they’re that talented, and she
truly is talented.”
FASTBREAK is compiled by Editor Tim Carroll. Send any questions
or comments to tim@mokenamessenger.com, or call (708)
326-9170 ext. 29.