Much is new with the Lake Forest girls gymnastics team this winter.
After 18 years as an assistant, Megan Miles has taken over as coach. Miles is the Scouts’ third coach in three years.
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“There’s a lot more paperwork to do,” Miles said of the move from assistant to head coach.
That’s not the only laborious task for Miles in 2014-15. The other is deciding who will compete each week.
Lake Forest is notably starless. Graduated is Brittany Moccia, a state qualifier in five events in 2013-14. The roster includes four seniors, two juniors, one sophomore and two freshmen, and is balanced in skill.
It’s just what Miles prefers.
“They are coming together and are solid all-around gymnasts. Everyone can do everything,” she said. “That’s a nice component to this year.”
Early signs of the roster’s top-to-bottom talent are good. In a Dec. 3 dual meet with Stevenson, Lake Forest’s first of the season, freshmen Emma Hoshino and Jessica Pasquesi had strong showings. Hoshino finished third on the vault while Pasquesi placed second on bars and third in the all-around.
On Saturday, the Scouts competed at the Al Galatte Invitational at Rolling Meadows. It’s one of the most competitive area meets of the early season, featuring Barrington and Prospect, team qualifiers at last year’s state meet.
Pasquesi placed 11th on the uneven parallel bars. That was the Scouts’ second-highest individual finish behind junior Anika Boyd’s seventh-place showing in the vault.
“Jessica [Pasquesi] has been leading our in-house competition. She has a solid routine and has shown consistent improvement,” senior Laura Blake said. “She’s very natural, very fun to watch.”
Blake, a four-year varsity gymnast who competed on the balance beam in last year’s sectional meet, said the practice room environment is cooperative and energetic.
“It’s definitely motivating as a team to watch the others grow and how we can best score for the next meet. It’s still a team sport,” she said. “In years past, we knew who the core four or five were for each event. Now it’s up in the air.”
Miles added: “It’s tricky. We have nine kids on the varsity and only five can compete [in each event]. My biggest challenge is putting together the right mix.”
Against Stevenson, junior Sara Rossman showed her potential in the parallel bars with a third-place finish. Seniors Grace Hogan, Tabatha Jeffers-Fitzgerald and Diana Mzyk, Boyd and sophomore Megan Wardeberg are all candidates to compete in several events or in the all-around.
So while much is new with this year’s team, expectations are the same. For a program that has qualified for the state meet three times in the past five seasons, competing on a state level remains embedded in the culture.
“They have a good deal of raw talent. Now it’s a matter of getting the confidence in skills and pushing to the next level,” Miles said. “These great freshmen will be fun to keep an eye on.”