Wheaton Warrenville South senior David MacDonald had little to prove Saturday at the boys gymnastics individual state finals.
He entered the day as the back-to-back all-around champion and the defender of three individual events.
He still found a way to make his senior showing even sweeter.
MacDonald won the floor (9.5), vault (9.75, tie with Glenbard West’s Perry Zumbrook), rings (9.2) and parallel bars (9.45) in his final high school meet. He finished third on the pommel horse and second on the horizontal bar. Next year, MacDonald plans to study electrical engineering at Baylor, which doesn’t have a gymnastics team.
“Way more than I thought I was (going to win),” he said. “I’m happy. I’m done. It’s starting to set in.”
More Top Picks Best Desk Pads For Office Desks
MacDonald became the first gymnast to win four events since Lincoln-Way East’s Ajani Cargle swept all six in 2012.
MacDonald’s closest competition came from Niles West sophomore Nomondalai Jamiyankhuu, the only other gymnast to qualify for the finals in all six events. Jamiyankhuu placed second on the floor, horse and parallel bars before winning the day’s last event, the horizontal bar (9.2).
He tacked on a third-place finish on the vault and a fourth on the rings.
“That takes a lot of energy, and I’m tired, but placing first in high bar got me hyper again,” he said. “That feels really good. I started kind of lower, and built up.”
Wheaton South senior Ethan Sansone wrapped up his high school career by winning the pommel horse (9.6) and finishing fourth on both bars.
MacDonald, Sansone and Zumbrook will graduate, clearing the way for Jamiyankhuu next spring. Jamiyankhuu will be the only gymnast returning to defend an individual title.