What’s wrong with this picture?
Julie O’Donnell has sacrificed four hard years for the Fremd gymnastics team, losing prominence but never her team spirit.
Yet, she woke up Friday morning to a flattering article and flashy color photo of Fremd splashed all over a local newspaper. Except, O’Donnell wasn’t in the picture despite being a contributing member of the Vikings’ starting lineup.
“I feel it,” O’Donnell said. “There’s no doubt Hanna (Shin), Jamie (Mangelli), Lisa (Pellegrinetti) and Meg (Harrington) deserve it. And, I know what goes on in the gym-we do it all together, and I know I’m a part of it. It’s just that, at times, you feel forgotten.”
In the biggest meet of her career, O’Donnell became the classic overachiever in helping lead Fremd to its own sectional title. The Vikings scored a season-high 147.15 to claim the third automatic berth at next week’s state meet. Runner-up Buffalo Grove virtually assured itself of an at-large berth with a 144.55 score. In another dramatic encounter, third-place Carmel likely qualified with some last-moment heroics from sophomore Gina Zubert.
Fremd, the No. 1 team in the state, has a weakness on balance beam. Shin and Pellegrinetti fell Friday night, which would normally generate some consternation with coach Larry Petrillo.
Not this time. That’s because O’Donnell, who leads off the Viking beam team and normally scores about an 8.4, earned a career-high 9.05.
“I’m so proud of her,” said a beaming Petrillo. “She’s the hardest worker in the gym, and she saved us tonight.”
“Just before I started, Meg reached across the beam, held my arms and said: `Nail it!’ ” O’Donnell said. “Some kind of feeling came over me, like I wasn’t nervous and I had nothing to lose. I told Meg she has to do that to me before state, too.”
O’Donnell should qualify for an at-large beam berth in the individual competition.
“I’ve been working a long time for that,” she said. “Up until now, my scores have always been the throw-away numbers (five gymnasts compete, top four scores are counted). Tonight, I basically proved myself.”
Carmel’s Zubert had peeled off the uneven bars earlier in the competition and said she was still a little dizzy when her team’s moment of truth arrived. On her final vault, Zubert ignored the pain and hit a 9.2. Those points gave Carmel a 143.2 score, edging past Willowbrook, which had 142.9 in its sectional Thursday night. That figures to be the final at-large berth with Buffalo Grove and Lincoln-Way already in, and either Rolling Meadows or New Trier expected to seize the third spot after Saturday’s Glenbrook North sectional.
