Barrington junior Abby Hasanov will be trying to defend her state title in uneven parallel bars when the state meet kicks off on Friday at Palatine.
However, Hasanov has realized that climbing up the mountain the second time is harder than the first try.
“I came into this season with a lot of pressure because I wanted to defend my state title,” Hasanov said. “I feel like I was more nervous at sectionals because I’m feeling that pressure.”
Hasanov didn’t have her best day at the Lake Park Sectional on Feb. 12, but she still qualified for state in the all-around (seventh, 36.5), floor exercise (fifth, 9.55), bars (third, 9.475) and vault (second, 9.65). Barrington finished third at the sectional, with its score of 144.275 placing behind winner Prairie Ridge (149.250) and second-place Fremd (146.950). The Fillies advanced to the state meet with an at-large berth.
Despite the added pressure, Barrington coach Jason Loeffler said Hasanov does have an advantage heading to state.
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“Getting that experience of winning state, now she knows what to expect,” Loeffler said. “I can’t teach experience.”
Although Hasanov won bars last year, she said her strongest event this season has been the floor exercise.
“My best event this year has been floor,” she said. “Floor went really well [at the sectional], but I could have done better. I’ve been getting new tricks here and there and I think I have a good chance at winning state in floor.”
With expectations so high, Hasanov is hoping to have a clean week. She has lightened up her practices in order to feel fresh for state.
While being physically ready for two long days is important, Hasanov said the most critical thing is to be mentally prepared.
“It’s more mental at this point,” Hasanov said. “Your mind can play tricks on you and tell you ‘Oh, you’re going to fall’ or ‘Oh, you’re going to do bad.’ But you have to block those thoughts out and build up some positive thoughts. I just have to tell myself that I’m going to hit it and whatever happens, happens. If I do fall, just get back up and try again because there’s nothing else you can do.”
That was a valuable lesson she learned at the sectional, but it was also a lesson that almost cost her a trip to state in all-around. She did her beam routine after junior teammate Molly Blanke fell off the beam and injured her ankle by landing halfway off the mat.
Hasanov said she felt rattled and fell three times during her routine. While the beam isn’t her best event, she really struggled after watching Blanke’s fall and finished 26th with a score of 7.825.
“I have to keep my nerves inside and don’t go crazy,” Hasanov said. “I was right after Molly and watching her, that threw me off. I didn’t know if I would make it in all-around.”
Hasanov’s teammates didn’t think the bad beam routine would carry over into state.
“I’ve known Abby for a really long time and we’ve been in the same club, and Abby is a fighter,” senior Jada Jones said. “Sometime she’ll hit a rough patch, but she has this thing about her and she just wants to fight for it.”
Rob Valentin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.