Senior Alyona Jochaniewicz felt good about her all-around score leaving the Glenbard West Sectional Feb. 11, but Oak Park-River Forest coach Kris Wright encouraged her to hold off her “happy dance” until results were official.
Later that evening, Jochaniewicz could dance with joy.
Her 35.875 all-around score earned one of the 12 at-large spots for the state meet, which begins at 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19, at Palatine.
“We were super-excited,” Wright said. “We had to wait until it was official. She wanted it so badly. She’s such a hard worker and so efficient.”
Jochaniewicz is the first Huskies gymnast to qualify for the state all-around since Shrutika Sulkar in 1994. Sulkar finished 18th (36.55) that season and took ninth on balance beam (8.55).
Jochaniewicz ranks 11th among at-large qualifiers and was one of 10 total who qualified out of the Glenbard West Sectional. Her top individual performance was 11th on beam (8.775), but did not advance.
“I think I felt pretty confident with my performance,” Jochaniewicz said. “I didn’t realize I had an OK score (to qualify), so that was great. I’m really excited to see how it will end.”
Because Glenbard West was the last of four sectionals, Jochaniewicz had to wait less than an hour to find out how her scores stacked up against other gymnasts from other sectionals. She was ninth at sectionals and just the top five advanced automatically.
Jochaniewicz is a three-year varsity gymnast with classmate Riley Patnode. Patnode, a team captain, said she plans on attending the state meet to support her teammate.
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“We have become very close and supporting her is something I will always do,” Patnode said. “I know it means so much to her and it makes me so happy to see her succeed.”
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