By Matt le cren
For the Bugle
www.buglenewspapers.com
Abby Carlson is not backing down from her determination at ending her gymnastics career on a high note.
The Downers Grove South senior earned her third trip to the state meet with a scintillating performance at the Hinsdale South Sectional on February 5.
Carlson won sectional titles on the uneven bars (9.525) and floor exercise (9.4) and was second in the all-around (36.975). She also advanced to state automatically on vault, where she tied for fifth (9.325).
The top five finishers on each event qualify for the Feb. 15-16 state meet at Palatine. She will be joined by teammate Andrea Davenport, who also qualified on floor, and Downers Grove North senior Brooke Stocki, who advanced on uneven bars.
“It’s just super exciting,” Carlson said. “Going into this meet I was feeling a lot more comfortable having (had) some experience at postseason meets where the pressure is high.”
Carlson has a chance to become the second-most decorated gymnast in program history if she can win two medals at state. She missed the state meet her sophomore year after tearing her ACL but returned last season and finished second on floor, becoming the third Mustang to win a medal and the first to do so on floor.
Floor and bars figure to be Carlson’s best events. The top 10 finishers in Friday’s prelims advance to Saturday’s event finals, where the top five win medals.
“I feel really good,” Carlson said. “I don’t want to jinx myself or put too much pressure on myself.
“The goal is just to think (about) two more hit routines, not necessarily worry about placing. I think once I focus on doing the routines I’ve been doing the past couple meets, I think the place and the score will come.”
Carlson’s floor routine is more difficult than the one she finished second with last year. Her first tumbling pass ends with a double pick, which she landed in impressive fashion at sectionals.
“That is new this season,” Carlson said. “It’s been pretty good. With any new skill you kind of go through a phase where it’s a little rough and it’s hard, but then you finally nail it and you finally get comfortable.
“So I think about midway through the season I finally started feeling comfortable with it and was able to execute it how I want to.”
Davenport, a senior who is making her second state appearance also qualified on floor, scoring 9.1. She made the state finals on balance beam as a sophomore, finishing ninth, but did not qualify last season.
“At this point for me it’s all about having fun, enjoying my last year and the last experience,” said Davenport, who tied for eighth in the all-around (34.85) and was 14th on beam (8.7).
Davenport is considering continuing her gymnastics career at Gustavus Adolphus College but hasn’t picked a college yet.
“If I don’t go there I will join a dance team (at another college),” Davenport said. “I really like to dance and do floor.”
Downers Grove South coach Kristyn Campos, whose team finished second in the team standings with 138.175 but fell short of advancing to state, likes what Carlson and Davenport have brought to the program.
“They’ve done a lot of hard work over their time here,” Campos said. “They are really good examples to the newcomers about patience and working through struggles, especially Abby as she’s had to overcome a lot.
“I’m really proud of both of them for working really hard and finding their groove at the end here. It’s always nice to see them go (to state) together.”
While Carlson has been a star since her freshman year and comes from a top gymnastics family that includes older sister Kayla and younger sisters Katrina, a freshman, Davenport has been less heralded.
“I think it means a lot to her,” Campos said. “Her number one love was beam and she had a little struggle today to start off on that and (it did) not go the way she wanted, but to see her push through and still get that goal, it speaks volumes to how much she really wanted it.”
Carlson and Davenport are part of a generation of gymnasts that helped the Mustangs become a local power in recent years.
While Carlson will not do gymnastics in college, she hasn’t contemplated what her legacy will be.
“I haven’t thought about that yet,” Carlson said. “I think it just shows that we’ve had a bunch of amazing classes ahead of us that have kind of guided us through this, whether it being my older sister or older teammates.
“People really helped us become the leaders on the team and the gymnasts that we are and hopefully (we are able) to bring that to the underclassmen so they can continue to keep this program going.”
Katrina Carlson capped her freshman year by finishing sixth on floor (8.925), eighth in the all-around (34.85), 10th on vault (9.2) and 23rd on bars (8.1). Senior Gianna Grippo was 29th on beam (7.35).
Downers Grove North finished third in the team standings with 137.55 points and had a whopping seven individual sectional qualifiers.
Leading the way was Stocki, who last year became the Trojans’ first state individual event finalist in 15 years when she took sixth on beam and 10th on bars.
Stocki is headed back to state, but only on bars after she nearly missed the meet due to stomach flu. She finished 10th in the all-around (34.75), tied for eighth on beam (8.9225), tied for 20th with teammates Cherilyn Parrilli and Mia Bowers on floor (8.3) and 29th on vault (8.225).
But Stocki stuck her bars routine for a third-place 9.3.
“Unfortunately, my senior gymnastics season has been filled with sickness and injury,” Stocki said. “I was really scared I wasn’t going to be able to compete at sectionals. A couple hours before the sectional meet I was sitting in a hospital bed getting IV fluids because of dehydration.
“My goal at the beginning of the season was to have as successful of a season as my junior year, and on Tuesday, my only goal was to be able to compete. My performance was not my best, but I am proud of myself for pushing through and just being able to compete. Going to state again after such a rough season is the best outcome I could have asked for.”
The future looks bright for North, which graduates Stocki and Lily Nowka, who was 21st on bars (8.15).
Sophomore Gabrella Stellato missed qualifying automatically on beam by just .025, finishing sixth with a 9.075. She also took ninth on bars (8.5).
Bowers, a sophomore, was 15th all-around (34.85), 17th on vault (9.0) and 24th on bars (7.85), while Parilli, a freshman, took 21st on vault (8.9). Junior Lauren Lucina placed 15th on beam (8.15) and sophomore Kenna Cinotte was 24th on floor (8.2).