Talk about a good first impression.
Sidelined with a stress fracture for more than two months, Glenbrook South sophomore Hannah Hartley made her first competitive appearance last week at the Glenbrook South Regional. Hartley shook off the rust and captured the all-around title, winning three of four events in helping her team capture their second consecutive regional title.
It was an impressive all-around day overall for Glenbrook South, as senior Kaci Castino was fourth and freshman Bebe Haramaras was fifth.
A state qualifier as a freshman, Hartley took firsts in the floor exercise (9.40), beam (9.65) and vault (9.55) and was second on the bars (8.95).
“It was nice to be back,” Hartley said. “I knew if I went out and hit it at the meet I could do well, since I’ve been working on the floor and beam for a while and this was my first time on vault again. If I hit them like I knew I could I figured I could have a strong meet. I wasn’t sure I could win it or not because there were some good girls in the regional. I was happy for me and the team.”
In a solid team performance for the Titans, Castino was second on the vault (9.325) and fourth on the beam (8.925) and floor (8.75) while Haramaras tied for third on the bars (8.50) and fourth with Castino on beam (8.925). Sophomore Katie Wahl was fifth on the bars (8.40) and fourth on the vault (9.125).
Hartley advanced to the state meet last year but failed to qualify for Saturday’s finals. She’s using that as inspiration to get herself and her teammates downstate this season.
“I feel like I’ve grown a lot as a gymnast,” Hartley said. “I’ve changed a lot, gotten older, realized more stuff. Everything I learned last year showed me what a great opportunity it was.”
Her opportunity last week was to test her injured ankle and see if it’s strong enough to endure the final two weeks of the season. Though she was sore following the regional meet, she proved something to herself physically and mentally.
This week, she and her teammates will compete in the Mundelein Sectional with the hopes of advancing to Palatine,site of the state meet Feb. 20.
“Gymnastics is definitely a mental game. It’s believing in yourself and believing you can get it done,” Hartley said. “Right now I’m not thinking about my injury, though I know it’s in the back of my head. I have my goals and how I want these last two weeks to play out.
“I’m concerned about my foot, but I’ve rested a lot, iced it a lot. I want to make sure I can do whatever I can for the team. If that means pushing through the pain, then that’s OK.”