The ESPN television network built an entire show around the concept that “Numbers Never Lie,” which, of course, is different that lying about numbers … age, weight, etc.
The “Numbers Never Lie” concept, though, definitely applies to the sport of high school girls gymnastics in Illinois. The story they tell is an accurate one, and what the numbers say is that this corner of the state produces top-end gymnasts at a rate that’s much higher than the statistics would suggest.
Each year, 80-plus schools in the state compete in girls gymnastics, and eight of those teams advance through regionals and sectionals to qualify for the state meet, based on team performance.
In our area, nine high schools — Carmel, Stevenson, Highland Park, Deerfield, Warren, Mundelein, Libertyville, Vernon Hills, and Lake Forest — compete in the sport.
That’s roughly one-ninth of the participating schools, so you would figure that each year, one area school should be among the eight that qualify for state.
But often, the number of state qualifiers is more than one. Though there were no area team qualifiers last year and one in 2013, there were three in 2004, 2007, 2008, 2011 and 2012; two in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2010; and four in 2002.
This past week, the 2015 state-tourney series began with regional competition, and in the team scoring, Carmel, Mundelein and Warren all posted team scores above the magical 140 mark, and have advanced to next week’s sectional play. And though the area teams aren’t close to posting the 146 score that’s needed to win a state team title, they all have a real shot at making the Elite Eight at state.
In the case of Warren High, this year’s surge is a return to glory.
During the decade of the 2000s, the Blue Devils were a major player in the sport, with individual champions Danyelle Aber (vault in 2004), Ashley Alden (beam in 2000 and all-around in 2001), and Kim Gotlund (bars and all-around in 2010).
The long list of other stars from that decade include Kacie Holop, Maureen Moss and Katie Volvolka. (An aside; Holop currently is a fitness instructor with the Gurnee Park District working out of the FitNation facility in Gurnee.)
One of the problems with the sport of gymnastics is that many times, the best gymnast in a high school doesn’t compete for the school team. Club gym programs are huge and the top-end girls often prefer to stay with their club coach year-round rather than leave club for the high school season.
This year, Warren High senior Katie Basara opted to join the Blue Devils team rather than stick with Ultimate Gymnastics club, and her appearance with the Blue Devils, plus improved showings by her new teammates, have literally vaulted the team onto the big stage.
During the regular season, Warren went 5-0 in North Suburban Conference dual meets, and then finished second to Mundelein in the conference tournament to the two schools shared the league title. That’s the first NSC title for Warren since 2008.
Basara won the all-around title at the NSC meet and then won every event at the Mundelein Regional (9.65 in vault, 9.675 on bars, 9.675 on beam, 9.6 on floor and 38.6 all-around.
She obviously is well-positioned to be successful at Monday’s sectional and then also at state. And that’s no surprise as she’s a Level 10 competitor (out of levels 3-10) at the club level. Next year, she’ll be a scholarship gymnast at NIU in DeKalb.(FYI: In the sport of gymnastics, the Mid-American Conference is very strong.)
In an email, Katie was quoted as saying this about her high school gym experience. “It was a tough decision but I really wanted to have the opportuity to represent my school and be part of a high school team,” she said. “As a senior, this was my last opportunity to do it, and it has turned out to be a great experience. It has been fun.
“Our team has come a long way this year and the coaches (Mary Kovac and assistant Julie Filippo) are really supportive. I am hoping to finish strong these next couple weeks.”
Besides scoring in the meets, another major boost Katie gives the Warren program is that her teammates get to see, in practice every single day, what it takes to excel at Level 10.
At the regional meet, Warren freshman Teagon Albert finished third all-around (36.575), and was second on floor (9.5), fifth on beam (8.950), third on bars (9.0) and scored 9.125 in vault.
Senior Kyra McCue was third in vault at the regional. Other key team members are junior Katie Graeb, senior Marisa Perry, sophomore, Carly Baun, sophomore Hannah Breyer, and freshman Dana Hutter.
With five key players, led by Teagon, returning next year, it’s not a stretch to believe that Warren will be able to sustain this level of success, even with Basara competing at the collegiate level.
The twitter way
Random thoughts, the way they do it on the twitter — in 140 characters or less:
Two years in, and Northwestern’s hiring of Chris Collins as men’s basketball coach has been much ado about nothing.
Sources close to the situation say Collins didn’t want Lake Forest basketball star Evan Boudreaux. Bad, bad decision.
Marian Catholic grad Tyler Ulis, a 5-9 point guard, should be playing 40 minutes a game, not 20, for unbeaten Kentucky.
Ulis is a key cog on the nation’s best college hoops team.
Last year, Stevenson then-junior Jalen Brunson outplayed Ulis in a head-to-head matchup.
Area senior prep football players who signed with NCAA Division 1 programs: There are six.
They include Wesley Annan (LF Academy/Stanford), Titus Booker (Grayslake North/Wisconsin), Nick Dillon (Stevenson/Eastern Michigan).
Also, Ryan Mullen (Lakes/Miami, Ohio), Caleb Reams (Warren/Illinois), Zach Wallace (Lake Zurich/Wyoming).
Waukegan High seniors Lorenzo Tanner and Melvin Bobo IV will play football at Division 2 Black Hills, a college in South Dakota.
Warren High is in Week 5 of second semester this week. Waukegan High’s taking first-semester final exams.
