PALATINE — Hinsdale South coach Mia Tritch picked the perfect words to describe junior Maddie Nowak’s perfect performance at the IHSA state finals at Palatine.
“She had the meet of her life,” Tritch said. “She deserves it because she works so hard in the gym. She hasn’t missed one practice all season, so she deserved to have the meet of her life.”
Nowak, who missed all last season with a left elbow injury due to overuse, brought home a huge haul of medals Saturday after finishing fifth in all-around (37.2), fourth in vault (9.7) and fifth in uneven bars (9.525). She took seventh (9.45) on floor exercise.
“I wasn’t expecting this at all,” Nowak said. “I just came in with an open mind and wanted to see what would happen. I started out strong on vault and that was a good sign. I just kept the energy going and finished strong on bars and floor. I was pretty happy with my results.”
The last time a Hinsdale South gymnast won multiple medals at state was in 1994, when Jacey Herman took fourth in all-around and third on floor.
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The normally reserved Nowak was happy about leaving her mark in the record books.
“It means a lot to me,” Nowak said. “I’m really glad I could do it and hopefully I made ‘Hornet Nation’ proud.”
Hinsdale South senior teammate Lauren Haney said Nowak earned the results she achieved at state.
“She was amazing,” Haney said. “She did well in everything and hit everything. It’s so fun watching her and she deserves it because she’s such a hard worker.”
Nowak’s accomplishments were unexpected at the beginning of the season. Having sat out last year, she didn’t know if her elbow would hold up, or if she would return to the same level she reached as a freshman.
“I absolutely was worried because it’s not an injury like a broken arm where it’s fixed and you go back to normal,” Nowak said. “It’s from overuse. But they tried their best to fix it and it’s surprising how little pain there is. I’m really happy about that.”
Nowak had to scale back some of her routines, taking out a flip-flop on floor and shortening the time she spends on bars in practice and in meets to prevent more elbow problems.
It took several meets for her to feel comfortable and she finally felt all the way recovered just after the new year.
Also a diver for Hinsdale South, Nowak began gymnastics when she was 10. She credits Action Gymnastics and a strong work ethic for preparing her for high school competition.
“Most other clubs won’t take girls that old, but mine took me,” Nowak said. “In our club gym, it’s an environment where if you are motivated and work hard, there are people there to facilitate your workouts. It’s a gym driven by self-motivation and I’m very motivated.”
She plans to return to the Hornets next season and build off this season’s accomplishments.
“It should be a goal to make it to state finals again and hopefully with more competitive routines I can score higher,” Nowak said.
Rob Valentin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press