The start of vacation brought breaks Saturday for Fremd and Stevenson at the New Trier Holiday Invitational.
Stevenson, the three-time defending state champion, competed without its best gymnast, senior Lindsay Borkan, who started her holiday early. The absence of the reigning state all-around champion and a Penn State recruit gave Fremd a small advantage.
Then Stevenson senior all-arounder Michelle McGrady, bound for Illinois, hurt her ankle in the first event, causing her to sit out the rest of the meet.
As a result, Fremd broke into the winners circle, earning a 143.625 score. Stevenson was second, with a 140.775, and Carmel took third at 140.475.
Fremd competed without its impressive freshman, Holly Reichard, who recently aggravated an ankle injury. She is probably sidelined until the beginning of the state series in February.
“The girls did a nice job,” Fremd coach Larry Petrillo said. “But we couldn’t have beaten Stevenson if they were full strength.”
The Patriots recorded unusually low team totals for the uneven bars (33.775), balance beam (34.3) and floor exercise (35.575). They, however, earned the best total for vault (37.125) for the six competing teams.
During floor exercise, McGrady was doing a dance move when she turned her ankle and then heard a popping noise. Coach Judy Harwood said McGrady could rest her ankle over the break and possibly return in January.
“Hopefully, the girls will treat this as a bump in the road,” Harwood said.
Not all was lost for Harwood, whose daughters, Audrey, a sophomore, and Meriel, a freshman, competed for Fremd.
“My family’s team won,” Judy Harwood said, laughing. “I had a good day watching.”
