The thought last year, following the Glenbrook South girls gymnastics team’s eighth-place finish at the state meet, was that the Titans were in a great position to return to state in 2016.
They had just one senior on their roster, along with two freshmen and three sophomores. Their three best all-arounders — Hannah Hartley, Katie Wahl and Bebe Haramaras — were all slated to return.
But Haramaras was the only one of those three to compete for Glenbrook South on Wednesday, Jan. 6, in a meet against Prospect in Glenview. Hartley, a junior, decided to do club gymnastics this year instead of high school gymnastics. Wahl, who’s also a junior, was cleared to return from a concussion on Wednesday, Jan. 6.
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Hartley’s departure, coupled with Wahl’s injury and junior Julia Stadler’s decision to stop doing gymnastics altogether, has forced Haramaras and fellow sophomore Kylie Kruger into leadership positions for Glenbrook South. That was evident in the Titans’ 134.65-125.95 loss to Prospect.
“There’s a lot more pressure,” Haramaras said. “I feel like one of the leaders, so I need to carry my team with me. I just have to perform well and have a good attitude.”
Haramaras did both against Prospect, which finished sixth at state a year ago. She was upbeat and positive with her teammates when they were doing their routines, and locked in when it was her time to compete. Haramaras finished with a 35.85 in the all-around, which was good for second. That included a 9.15 on vault, an 8.20 on uneven bars, a 9.40 on balance beam and a 9.10 on floor exercise.
Haramaras hit all four of her routines, which she said never really happens. Starting well on vault — where she did a round-off onto the spring board, a flip-flop onto the vault and then a backflip — set the tone for the rest of the meet, she added.
Kruger wasn’t as happy with her four routines — specifically with aspects of her vault (8.55) and uneven bars (8.50) — but she was consistent. Kruger finished the meet with a 9.05 on beam, and an 8.80 on floor exercise. She had the meet’s third-best all-around score (34.90) while dealing with the weight of expectations that come with being an all-arounder. Kruger competed on one or two events a year ago.
Being a leader as a sophomore “is a lot of pressure,” Kruger said. “Once people started getting injured, it was a lot of pressure — having to do well for GBS, especially in some meets that count toward [the] conference [standings]. You really need to do well in those because everything counts.”
Kruger and Haramaras added that Glenbrook South’s end-of-season goal remains to make it to state — even without Hartley and Stadler.
The Titans will have to be healthy, however, with the Central Suburban South conference meet on Saturday, Jan. 30, and the regional meet the following week. Wahl will return slowly from her concussion, Glenbrook South coach Steve Gale said, and freshman all-arounder Chloe Nourbash is working her way back from a badly sprained ankle.
“We’ve got to get these girls back healthy and see where we are,” Gale said. “It should be an exciting end of the year.”
Meet notes
* Kruger and Haramaras combined to record Glenbrook South’s two highest scores in each event. Senior Miranda DeBow had the Titans’ third-highest score on vault (8.30). Senior Ella Voss had their third-highest on uneven bars (5.45). Freshman Hannah Wittenstein recorded Glenbrook South’s third-highest score on beam (7.45) and floor exercise (7.10).
* Prospect senior Megan Donner was first in the all-around (36.00)
Eric Van Dril is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter: @VanDrilSports