OP_112719

38 | November 27, 2019 | the orland Park Prairie sports
OPPrairiedaily.com
Sandburg/Stagg merger improves district gymnastics
3
JEFF VORVA, Sports Editor
The first day of practice
for the newly formed District
230 co-op girls gymnastics
team was ready to
get started at Andrew High
School.
Andrew gymnasts were
already in the house on
Nov. 13. Sandburg’s girls
dropped in, followed by
Stagg’s athletes. The team
members were looking at,
and buzzing about, the
Andrew jackets and new
leotards, which have the
colors of all three schools.
Some stretching was in
order before serious practice
was to begin.
All seemed well.
Until the vault landing
mat that was transported
from Sandburg to Andrew
was missing in action. This
was an important piece of
equipment. A lot of equipment
made the trip from
the second floor in the gym
in Orland Park to the second-floor
gymnastics area
in Tinley Park.
Not all of the equipment
was usable. Some of it
went into a dumpster outside
of the school.
After a few minutes of
looking for the vault landing
mat, it was discovered
that it, too, accidentally
took an unceremonious
trip to the dumpster.
And that is how coach
Allison Hack’s first day of
practice with her extended
team started.
Once the mat was pulled
out of the dumpster, all
was well, and now that
the gymnastics program is
three-teams strong, she is
hoping all will stay well.
“I’m happy to work
with the student athletes
from Sandburg and Stagg
and create one D230 family,”
she said. “We now
Coach Allison Hack talks to some of her gymnasts during the first practice involving all three District 230 teams.
JEFF VORVA/22ND CENTURY MEDIA
feel like we can compete
with some of the top
teams in Illinois. We’re
looking forward to that. It
will be exciting.”
Last year, the T-Bolts
had just one state qualifier,
then-junior Bella Lapera.
With Sandburg-Stagg in
the fold, that brought in
another state qualifier in
Taylor Talley.
As a bonus — a really
big bonus — Sandburg’s
Maddie Giglio said she
would make her return
to gymnastics this week
after her diving season
ended at the Illinois High
School Association state
meet over the weekend.
Giglio is a well-decorated
athlete who finished third
in the state on the balance
beam her sophomore season.
She left gymnastics
her junior year to pursue
diving and was rewarded
with a scholarship offer to
the University of Toledo,
which she gladly accepted.
This team has some serious
firepower in those
three.
Freshman Natalie Drnec
from Sandburg is someone
to also watch.
“I knew her when she
was a baby,” Talley said.
“When she was young, I
said that this girl was going
to be good.”
Others on the roster who
are aiming to make an impact
are Andrew’s Claire
Scheulin, Sandburg’s Julia
Kobel, Abigail Vaughn-
Lee, Devin Dubsky and
Stagg’s Kamilia Harkabuz
and Jill Magafas.
Sandburg, which
morphed into the Sandburg-Stagg
co-op team,
had a good history under
27-year coach Mike White,
including a second-place
state finish in the state in
2009 and a third-place finish
in 1995 plus numerous
regional championships as
well as six sectional titles.
Eight Eagles have finished
in the Top 6 in the
state, and April Hunt won
a state title in the vault
event in 2003 and Krystyn
Misheck earned a state
championship in the floor
exercise nine years later.
White retired last year
and when Sandburg officials
assessed all aspects
of the program, the move
to Andrew made sense.
“It’s something we’ve
talked about since I’ve
been here — for four years
now,” Sandburg Athletic
Director Tom Freyer said.
“We felt this is a natural
time to do it. This would
be a great way to allow our
athletes to participate in
gymnastics. After looking
at our coaching staff and
facility constraints, we’ve
been practicing at Gym-
Kinetics for the past four
years.”
The athletes are mingling
well so far.
“We knew a lot of their
gymnasts from the last
couple of years, and they
were really nice,” Lapera
said. “Now, they are on
our team.
“It should be exciting,”
she said. “Everyone has
been practicing so hard
over the summer. There
is so much improvement
from my teammates, and
Sandburg and Stagg coming
in — we have a lot of
talent this year.”
Talley is also looking
forward to the season.
“I honestly don’t think
it’s that weird,” Talley
said. “A lot of us have
practiced together in club
gymnastics. I don’t see
a problem. We get new
people in every year with
freshmen. It’s an adjustment
with everyone coming
to a new place, but I
think we will get over that
pretty fast.”
The new team makes
its debut Wednesday, Dec.
4, at Andrew against the
Lincoln-Way co-op team.
Maddie Giglio, a Sandburg athlete who gave up
gymnastics last season after enjoying two successful
seasons, will return to the sport on the District 230 coop
team. 22ND CENTURY MEDIA FILE PHOTO
Hack is looking forward
to Jan. 4, when the T-Bolts
take over hosting the fifth
Erin Olmsted Invitational,
which has been a staple at
Sandburg. Last year, the
meet drew 11 teams, and
Lincoln-Way won its third
title in four years.
Hack ordered new leotards
with colors from all
three schools on them.
“We wanted all of the
schools represented,” she
said. “This is going to be a
fun year.”