By matt le cren
For the Bugle
www.buglenewspapers.com
Downers Grove South senior Abby Carlson and Downers Grove North senior Brooke Stocki ended their gymnastics careers a day apart but with similar satisfaction.
Carlson scored 9.45 to finish third on uneven bars Saturday at the individual event finals of the state meet at Palatine, becoming the second girl in program history to finish her career with medals on two different apparatus. She was second on floor last year.
Abby Carlson finished her career with a third-place showing in the uneven parallel bars. (Photo by Matt Evans/For the Bugle)
On Friday, Stocki finished 15th on uneven bars during Friday’s preliminaries, sticking her final routine for a 9.275. The top 10 finishers in prelims advanced to finals, where the top 5 win medals.
“It was super exciting,” Carlson said. “The goal, as always, is to go out and do the best routine possible and I had one of my better routines of the season, which was perfect timing. I’m thrilled with the outcome.”
Carlson, who missed the state meet two seasons ago after surgery for a torn ACL, capped her career with two tremendous bars routines. She tallied 9.525 in Friday’s prelims, which was the third-highest score.
As she did Friday, Carlson swung like a whippet on the high bar before dismounting with a double pike, which she landed flawlessly.
“For Abby to finish on bars like that, two days in a row with great routines, that’s what you dream of,” Downers South coach Kristyn Campos said. “I’m happy for her.
“She’s a well-rounded gymnast. She’s helped our program tremendously and she’s grown a lot in four years.”
Indeed, Carlson finished seventh in Friday’s all-around competition with a 37.075 total, which included 9.35 on vault, 9.325 on beam and 8.875 on floor, where a fall marked her only blemish of her final meet.
“I’m extremely happy,” Carlson said. “It wasn’t a perfect meet but it was one of my better state meets and to (finish my career) with two state medals, I would never have imagined four years ago man that as a senior I’d be seventh in the all-around.
“The competition in Illinois is amazing and all the other athletes have done an exceptional job here. So just to be up there with some of those girls is really rewarding.
“The motto today was just take everything in, enjoy the atmosphere with my teammates and coaches and all my friends and family in the stands. (I wanted to) have a positive attitude no matter what the outcome was.”
That was Stocki’s approach as well.
“I was really happy with the result, especially with all of the things that I’ve gone through this year,” Stocki said. “My goal was just to have fun. If that was my last routine ever, I would be happy with it because it was what I’ve been practicing.”
Stocki ended her routine by sticking her difficult double back dismount, capping a season stunted by injury and illness. She competed in just three meets during the regular season because of a foot injury and mono.
After returning to help the Trojans win a regional championship and advance to sectionals as a team for the third straight year, Stocki contracted stomach flu just two days before the sectional meet, but managed to compete and qualify for state on bars.
“You talk about a kid with perseverance,” Downers North coach Linda Reynolds said. “She just never gave up, never thought that she couldn’t do it. Never doubt her.”
Stocki never doubted herself but grew mentally tougher while getting through a senior season that didn’t go as planned. Despite the setbacks, she still managed to set the school record on uneven bars when she scored 9.75 against defending state champion Glenbard West.
“It kind of showed that I can get through a lot,” Stocki said. “I didn’t really know if I was going to be able to come back from all of this.
“I could easily have stopped and said I want to be done, but I pushed through. Just to be here was like a miracle.”
Bars is Stocki’s favorite event, so qualifying on just that event allowed her to prepare to finish her competitive career, which began at age 5, with a flourish.
“It was nice to focus on that all week and then go out and hit it,” Stocki said. “It’s the best feeling when you land, and I made it.”
In other results, Downers North sophomore Gabriella Stellato made her state meet debut and finished last of 38 competitors on balance beam with a 6.725.
Downers Grove South freshman Katrina Carlson, Abby’s sister, finished 14th on floor exercise with a 9.125, while senior teammate Andrea Davenport scored 9.0 to place 25th.
Katrina Carlson is the third member of her family to qualify at state and said competing with her sister this season helped her ease into high school gymnastics.
“I was really honored to be here,” Katrina Carlson said. “I didn’t expect it. I barely made it in.
“I was happy and to be with my older sister is really exciting. She said just live in the moment and see how it goes.”
The oldest Carlson sister, Kayla, graduated two years ago and the three-year age difference between Abby and Katrina means this is the only season they got to be teammates. Katrina said her sister taught her some valuable lessons.
“It’s awesome because when I was younger I was never really on the same level or team as her,” Katrina Carlson said. “To be practicing with her every day, it’s awesome to get that kind of mentor to look up to and someone to help me out.
“She calmed me down, said don’t overthink and just go do what you know you can do and be confident. That’s one thing that I really learned this year was to be confident in myself.”