Girls gymnastics seasons, even for the best teams, are filled with highs and lows. Highland Park ended its 2014-15 campaign on a high.
“We finished strong. Overall the team surged at the end of the season,” Giants coach Jose Salazar said.
Two Highland Park gymnasts competed in the Mundelein Sectional on Feb. 9 — junior Avery Spitz and freshman Emily Aronin. Based on her body of work before the sectional, Spitz had the best chance of earning a spot in the state meet, to be held Friday and Saturday at Palatine.
Spitz emerged from the New Trier Regional on Feb. 5 with two ranked qualifying marks in the floor exercise and all-around. She made the sectional cut in the vault as an at-large participant.
“My thought going in [to the sectional] was her best opportunity [to make state] was in floor,” Salazar said.
In practices leading up to the sectional meet, Spitz made changes in her floor routine to add an extra degree of difficulty. The belief was that if Spitz hit the routine, she could score in the high 8s or low 9s and possibly snag an at-large bid to the state meet.
Spitz’s eventual score of 8.60 was on par with where she scored most of the season but well below the state cut of 9.375. In the vault, Spitz posted a 8.55, good for 27th place. In the all-around, Spitz’s 32.525 also put her in 27th place.
“All season, I’ve known what she was going to do. She’s been very consistent,” Salazar said. “At this point, we will see what she really wants to do to get there next year.”
Like Spitz, Aronin will have another chance in 2015-16.
Aronin qualified for the sectional as an at-large competitor in the uneven parallel bars. A 7.70 score at Mundelein put her well below contention, but Salazar said just the experience of competing in a pressure-filled meet like the sectional is a positive for the young gymnast.
“Had that been her score early in the season, she would have been very hard on herself. By the time the [sectional] meet was over, she was happy and pleased and understood the mistakes she made,” Salazar said. “What I hope for next year is all season long her to work on one goal in mind, and she’ll know what the pressure feels like and if she gets there, not let it effect her.”
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What has Salazar optimistic for next year is not only the return of Spitz and Aronin, but hope for a full season from freshman Aliana Velick. Injured early this season, Velick returned for the Central Suburban League meet Jan. 31. Her performance on bars helped the Giants achieve a fourth-place finish.
Salazar said sophomore Katherine Abrams competed the entire season with a stress fracture in her knee. The performances of Abrams, Velick, Spitz and Aronin allowed the Giants to close out the year with a season-high score of 124.20 at the New Trier Regional.
“If we had everybody healthy, I have no doubt that we would have been a 128 or 129 team, maybe higher,” Salazar said. “They were very hard working, very determined. There’s no other team in the conference I’d rather coach.”
Jon Kerr is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.