Titans are on target at state gymnastics meet

Glenbrook South’s Jenna Hartley competes on the uneven bars at the state meet. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER

Eight girls gymnastics teams vied for gold at the state meet last weekend.

Nearly half of the qualifiers — Glenbrook South, New Trier and Maine South — had battled for podium spots at the Central Suburban League South Meet last month.

“We knew one [of the division’s schools] would likely take third place,” Glenbrook South coach Steve Gale said on Feb. 17, the second day of the two-day state meet at Palatine High School.

Gale’s Titans did just that — for the second year in a row. Glenbrook South scored 146.6 points, ahead of fourth-place New Trier (146.275) and fifth-place Maine South (146.225).

Glenbard West (150.05) and 2017 state champion Prairie Ridge Co-op (149.1) went 1-2.

“On our heels the whole day [Feb. 16, the day of the preliminaries],” Gale said of NT’s Trevians and Maine South’s Hawks. “We went 20-for-20 in our routines. We had told the girls that’s what it would take to get a trophy, and they went out there and did it.

“No one missed,” he added.

Titans freshman Sheena Graham paced the squad with a sixth-place showing in the all-around (37.15), three spots ahead of sophomore teammate Jenna Hartley (37.05), who tied for fifth place on vault (9.525) and took seventh on the floor exercise (9.475) in the finals session on Feb. 17. Graham advanced to the finals on vault (seventh-place tie, 9.5) and the balance beam (seventh, 9.05).

Titans senior co-captain Bebe Haramaras tied for 10th place on beam with an 8.65.

Senior co-captain Kylie Kruger, junior Sarah Healy, sophomore Emily Wyngarden and freshmen Elena Pauker and Sydney Willits also performed routines for Glenbrook South last weekend.

Reigning CSL South Meet champion New Trier, fifth at state last winter, moved closer to state trophy territory (top three teams) behind sophomore Maeve Murdock (15th in the all-around, 36.675) and junior Darcy Barkal (18th, 36.425). Murdock, who tied for first place (with Maine South’s Caleigh Pistorius, the daughter of NT coach Jennifer Pistorius) on beam at state last season, ended up eighth (8.8) on the apparatus last weekend.

Barkal had qualified for a finals berth on vault with a 9.6 but could not compete on Day Two after aggravating a severely injured right ankle.

Lake Forest High School freshman Kristin Fisch — a state qualifier on vault and floor exercise — suffered a serious leg injury during her floor show in the prelim session and had to settle for a 7.75 (35th place). She was unable to compete on vault.

Glenbrook North senior Brittany Ullrich placed 28th in the all-around (35.675), and her teammate, freshman Katie Dahlke, tied for 25th on floor (9.025).