Christian Carmona may have started a new sport this weekend — the gymnastics marathon.
If so, he fittingly won the first edition.
The York gymnast battled fatigue and strong competition to capture the all-around championship at the IHSA state meet Saturday at Barrington.
The junior, who competed in the Level 10 Junior Olympic Nationals in Oklahoma City on Thursday, led York to a second-place finish in the team competition Friday.
Carmona’s hectic schedule left him fatigued on Friday after less than a full night’s sleep. But he felt rejuvenated enough to win his first state all-around title on Saturday.
“I had a lot of rest and I felt a lot better,” said Carmona, who estimated he did more than 24 routines in the grueling three-day span.
“It gave me a little more boost and I felt like I had a chance. Once I hit pommel horse I was fine.”
Carmona’s 9.3 on the horse, his Achilles’ heel, was good for a seventh-place tie in the event.
He recorded the top score on still rings (a 9.75 that tied with Naperville Central’s Keith Lage) and the horizontal bar (a dominating 9.8).
Carmona won the vault, took second in parallel bars and tied for fourth in floor exercise, to outpoint runner-up Roger Pasek of Dundee-Crown 57.6-56.9.
Pasek had a rewarding evening session with three wins in the individual championships.
The future Fighting Illini repeated as the pommel horse champion and took the parallel bars and horizontal bar to become only the sixth gymnast since 1980 to record three or more individual firsts at the meet.
“I definitely wanted to get another gold medal today and I walked away with three,” said Pasek, who became a multiple state champ for a school that doesn’t have a gymnastics team.
The Chargers booster club provided him with his red-and-blue athletic wear. “This was a great meet. I’m happy.”
Matt Eckardt of team champion Palatine won the floor exercise (9.7).
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dsurico@tribune.com
