She knew it. Her teammates knew it and her coach knew it.
Once Downers Grove South senior Stephanie Grygiel hit her vault routine, she raised her hands high, smiled and then was swarmed by the entire Downers South entourage.
Grygiel`s 9.70 vault score was good enough for first place and was a key factor in her winning the all-around title. Plus, it played a major role in her team`s first-place sectional showing Wednesday at Willowbrook.
”That kind of topped off the day,” said teammate Michele McCoy, who placed fourth on the bars with a score of 9.15.
”That was the first time I`ve ever stuck my vault,” said Grygiel, last year`s state champion in the event. ”It felt great. Right before I went, I heard my team say, `She`s going to stick it,` and that`s what happened.”
Grygiel, a Western Michigan-bound senior who placed ninth overall at state in 1991, finished first in floor (9.5) and second in beam (9.25) and bars (9.5).
Downers Grove North`s Sandy Menard took firsts in beam (9.4) and bars
(9.55), but was edged out by Grygiel for the all-around title 37.95-37.65.
”I feel I should have done a little better on floor (third with a 9.35)
and vault (fourth, 9.35), but I was happy with my beam and my uneven bars,”
said Menard, a sophomore who won the sectional a year ago.
Willowbrook finished second with 141.15 points to Downers South`s 141.80. Oak Park-River Forest took third (139) followed by Downers North (138.80), Addison Trail (137.75) and Stagg (132.55).
GIRLS BASKETBALL
GCAC tournament-No. 12 Immaculate Heart of Mary got sweet revenge over No. 7 Mother McAuley when the Tigers blitzed the Mighty Macs 51-38 in the first game of the semifinals of the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference Red Division tournament at St. Ignatius.
In addition to avenging a 63-43 loss IHM suffered against McAuley last month, the victory kept the Tigers (18-7) on track for their seventh consecutive GCAC tournament title.
The Tigers (18-7) will meet No. 8 St. Ignatius for the Red title at 3 p.m. Saturday at St. Ignatius in the GCAC tournament windup. St. Ignatius
(20-4) qualified by ousting No. 19 Resurrection 68-47 in the second semifinal.
Mimi Olsen led IHM with 17 points and Carly Zilligen added 15 as IHM built an 18-10 halftime lead and coasted. Erin Griffin had 17 for McAuley
(19-5).
St. Ignatius took a 36-25 halftime lead and held off Resurrection behind Claire Molloy (18 points, six rebounds) and Stephanie Davis (11 points, six rebounds). Mary Connolly had 22 points and Sandy Esche 17 for Resurrection
(21-3).
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In the White Division semifinals, host Mother Guerin squandered a 23-18 halftime lead then rallied from a 35-33 third-quarter deficit to beat Carmel 48-42 in the first game and St. Francis de Sales stopped St. Scholastica in the nightcap.
Tiffany Demke, who finished with 17 points, scored on a layup to give Guerin a 40-39 lead early in the fourth quarter and Guerin held on. Jenny Flynn had 13 points for Guerin (17-8) while Natalie Gambit had 12 for Carmel
(11-14).
Colleen Sabin finished with 20 points and Gia Menconi 12 to lead St. Francis de Sales (14-10). Melissa Walsh had 14 and Amy Benjamin 13 for St. Scholastica.
In the Blue Division semifinals at Notre Dame, the host team (7-16)
spilled Lourdes 65-40 behind Heidi Pelz (17 points, 16 rebounds) and Eva Biegacz (16 points, 12 rebounds) and Trinity ousted Academy of Our Lady 55-44. Washington 75, Luther North 44-No. 2 Washington (25-2) built a 37-20 halftime lead and breezed to its 24th straight victory behind Jocelyn Berry
(17 points), Monique Polk (11) and Tangela Smith (10) in non-conference action.
Maine West 54, Maine South 23-Kerry Wegrzyn scored 17 points and Dana Lau 10 as No. 3 Maine West (23-3) breezed in a Central Suburban League crossover. Francis Parker 53, Latin 22-Sara Beugan (19 points) and Tiffany Helberg
(13) led the way as Francis Parker (15-3, 10-2) claimed second place in the Independent School League.
Waukegan 49, Highland Park 43-Kelly Stancel led Waukegan to the Central Suburban crossover win with 17 points. Highland Park`s Debbie Bogoslaw led all scorers with 21 points.
BOYS SWIMMING
Chicago Independent Championships-Meet host Chicago Latin won 12 of 13 events, set meet records in three events and posted a record team total of 349 points. Zach Spreitzer, Judd Horn and Andrew Obenshain each won two events and swam on two winning relay teams for Latin.