Amber Fox was shocked when she looked up at the state gymnastics meet leaderboard last season.
The Glenbard North gymnast, who had placed 30th in the 2007 all-around competition, was hoping for a top-10 finish. Instead, her consistent performance scored a 37.825 for fourth place.
“It came out of nowhere,” she said. “I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh! No way!’ I was shaking. It was the best all-around I’ve had ever.”
Fox, a junior, received another surprise this week when she learned she is the state’s top returning all-arounder this season.
Defending state runner-up Kim Gotlund, a junior at Warren, decided to stick with club gymnastics this winter. Three-time state all-around champion Mary Burke of Fremd has graduated, and so has Palatine’s third-place finisher, Rachel Corcoran.
Those departures leave Fox, Fremd senior Tori Sarantakis (sixth) and Carmel junior Amber Mirski (10th) as contenders in a wide-open individual field.
Stevenson, with three returning state all-arounders, is the team favorite.
“If I work really hard, I think my chances are really good,” Fox said.
She also finished 10th on the vault last season. Her state showing was a bright spot in a season in which Marissa Bosco went down with a torn ACL in December. Bosco, who finished 10th in the all-around in 2007, was forced to watch her teammate from the sidelines.
“I was really proud of her,” Bosco said. “In practice she wasn’t as consistent, but she stuck everything at state.”
Bosco’s return this season has the Panthers eyeing a return to the state team competition. The senior said she feels even stronger than she did at this time last year because of the rehabilitation she has done for her knee.
Fox is confident. “It’s totally our year,” she said.
TOP RETURNING GYMNASTS
%% GYMNAST CL SCHOOL
Marissa Bosco Sr. Glenbard North
Stephanie De La Torriente Jr. St. Charles East
Linda Dunne Jr. Buffalo Grove
Amber Fox Jr. Glenbard North
Shana Manning Sr. Stevenson
Alexa Messina So. Sandburg
Amber Mirski Jr. Carmel
Krystyn Misheck Sr. Sandburg
Colleen Morgan Sr. Hinsdale Central
Sam Saltess Sr. Palatine
Tori Sarantakis Sr. Fremd
Chelsie Seplowin Sr. Stevenson
Emily Urben Sr. Lyons Township
Stephanie Wojton Sr. Stevenson
Megan Weller Jr. Linc-Way East Co-op %%
