36 | February 22, 2018 | The Mokena Messenger sports mokenamessenger.com Athlete of the Week 10 Questions with Abi Baumgartner Girls Gymnastics Experienced unit finishes seventh at state Junior Abi Baumgartner is a forward on the Lincoln- Way Central girls basketball team. Since Christmas, she is averaging 16.0 points and 11.8 rebounds per game. How did you get started in basketball? I started at a really young age because my mom played in college. So, she started me and my sisters in the game at like 3 or 4 years old. What’s your favorite aspect of the game? I like defense more because it’s more of a team aspect and communicating. And when you get stops, steals or blocks, it just kind of pumps you up more than scoring, I think. What’s your ideal postgame meal? I usually like coming home and eating spaghetti, just because I like my carbs. If you won the lottery, what’s the first thing you’d buy? I would probably help my parents pay for all my college, and put the rest into savings and see where I would need it in life. Who has been your inspiration in life? I’d say my mom has always been my inspiration because when I’m down on myself, she always seems to keep me up. She always motivates me and makes me get out of my head, so I could continue to push harder to become better. What’s one of your favorite memories playing basketball? There’s been so many, but I think my best memory was in seventh-grade. I was on the South Suburban Wildcats, and we played up in eighth-grade tournaments. We went undefeated, except losing five games the entire summer. It was a really good season. What is the most challenging part of the sport? I think it’s more of the mental aspect, where if you make a bad play or get frustrated, you have to get out of your own head and not go down the wrong path throughout the game. You just got to keep yourself up and your team motivated as a leader. If you could own any exotic pet, what would it be? Probably a giraffe because I’ve always found them so interesting. It’s not something you’d expect to see in someone’s backyard every day. What life lessons could you take away from basketball? The team aspect of working together and communicating with other people, Photo submitted I think it got me to come out of my shell because I was shy as a kid. Also, being able to take over and communicate your thoughts through words and make impulse decisions in game help me think quick off my feet. If you could pick anyone to play with you in a 3-on-3 game, who would it be? I’d probably pick my mom because she’s just so quick. She could still almost jump higher than me. And then I’d pick my friend Livvy Villa because we’ve been playing with each other since fourth-grade. She’s a lifelong friend. Interview by Editor T.J. Kremer, III. Chris Walker Freelance Reporter Teams usually have to be at their best during their respective sectional in order to advance to the IHSA girls gymnastics state finals. That makes it a huge accomplishment to be even better at state. Lincoln-Way co-op was in that select company Saturday, Feb. 17, in Palatine, and other than runner-up Prairie Ridge co-op, which had won the previous three state titles, Lincoln-Way was the most improved from sectional to state. The team finished in seventh place with 144.025 points after scoring a 143.2 in the Sandburg Sectional for an increase of 0.825. It was fantastic finish for a senior-laden team that has been fortunate and talented enough to compete in the state finals for two straight years after the program hadn’t done so since 2008. “It’s definitely been nice and we’ve created a legacy now,” senior Una Farrell said. “We’ve been able to build the team up to a dream team and had a lot of accomplishments.” Lincoln-Way came to the state finals with a mathematical chance of winning the state title, but not much more than that. It’s usually how it goes for most of the teams in the field in gymnastics, especially when you have a couple teams consistently scoring about five points higher than you. “Coming in we had the lowest sectional score so we had an idea where we stood so we were hoping to break that 145 overall,” Farrell said. “I know especially for me and the seniors that our mindset was to have fun and make some memories. For most of us it was our last meet and ends our high school careers so we spent a lot of time in the back [warm-up] room thinking about that.” Glenbard West won its first state title with a 150.05 ending runner-up Prairie Ridge co-op’s three-year title run. Farrell and fellow seniors Gabby DeVito, Erica Dice, Madi Flondor, Jesse Smith and Sabrina Wenk all competed for the final time for Lincoln-Way co-op. Farrell was the team’s lone all-around representative who also qualified to compete in the all-around competition. She finished in 21st place with a 36.2. Just how young and talented was the all-around field this year? Farrell was one of only three senior allarounders to compete in the state. Glenbard West junior Maddie Diab won the allaround for the second time, scoring a 38.025. Flondor competed in three events, scoring a 9.1 on vault, 9.05 on beam and 8.675 on bars. The team’s remaining seniors were single-event specialists. Dice had the a 9.375 on vault, Gabby DeVito earned an 8.85 on vault, Wenk had an 8.275 on bars and Smith did not compete. Freshman Grace Kmak saw action in all four events with a 9.175 on floor, 9.075 on vault, 9.1 on beam and 8.25 on bars. Sophomore Korina Jarosz was most impressive on vault with a 9.5, but also had a 9.15 on floor and 9.05 on bars. Fellow sophomores Erika Waaso and Allie Reis also got involved. Reis had a 9.125 on floor and Waaso earned an 8.25 on beam. “We all tried to go in there and hit our routines and do the best that we could,” Jarosz said. “We knew the judging was going to be tight so we tried to be as clean as possible on our routines and go out there and have fun.” The team’s score of 37.225 on vault was one of the highlights. “It’s been a favorite event all year and we had one of our highest all-around scores,” Jarosz said. “That was a lot of fun and we were able to think about the seniors. They’ve kind of carried most of the team so with them leaving we wanted to finish strong.” The 2018-19 team will certainly have a different look with six seniors graduating, but knows what newcomers will step and make an impact, especially with the sport loaded state-wide with talented underclassmen. In related team news, the Illinois High School Girls Gymnastics Association awarded Assistant Coach of the Year to Lincoln-Way co-op assistant coach Kory Thompson for the second consecutive season.
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