Immediately after completing her beam routine, New Trier freshman gymnast Maeve Murdock heard the cheers ring out from around the gym at the Central Suburban South meet in Evanston.
Murdock’s New Trier teammates and the Trevians fans were applauding her routine, which earned a 9.375 and a third-place finish in the event on Jan. 27. But there also was clapping and screaming from gymnasts from Maine South, Glenbrook South and Evanston, whose teams were competing on other events or waiting to do so.
“I’m on beam and I see Glenbrook South and Maine South gymnasts and they’re all cheering for me,” said Murdock, who lives in Glencoe. “It’s a really fun environment because everyone is cheering for each other. It’s really encouraging.”
It’s not a dynamic routinely seen in other high school team sports. But on the local high school gymnastics scene, many athletes have a bond that transcends school colors. In many cases, the common denominator is that the gymnasts train together at — and compete at club events as members of — Wheeling’s American Academy of Gymnastics. Murdock is one of the gymnasts that trains there.
A few of the area’s top gymnasts, like Maine South sophomore Caleigh Pistorius, are long-time members of the gym, and New Trier coach Jen Pistorius, Caleigh’s mother, has coached there for two and a half years.
But, in the last year, there has been an influx of high school gymnasts, including many of the standouts from New Trier, Glenbrook South and Maine South, choosing AAG.
One major factor in AAG drawing athletes from other local gyms appears to be its commitment to high school gymnastics. Other area gyms do not necessarily encourage their athletes to also compete in high school, but rather expect them to focus exclusively on club.
Kurt Waller, owner and coach at AAG, said he does not recruit athletes away from other gyms, but said AAG’s pro-high school approach clearly has played a role in what he calls “the high school invasion.”
“We offer a very unique program here,” Waller said. “It’s quite simple: We heavily support high school gymnastics, welcome kids who want to train and prepare for high school (gymnastics).”
Waller said the camaraderie between AAG’s current group of local gymnasts was apparent in his gym this past offseason.
“Last year in particular, a bunch of kids came in, and they just jelled really well with the kids already in the program,” Waller said. “It’s really enhanced the culture of the gym.”
Glenbrook South sophomore Sarah Healy, who joined AAG at the beginning of last summer, said the camaraderie between AAG gymnasts made it easier to put in the long, offseason training hours, and it’s given her comfort at meets during the current high school season.
“Summer practices can be long and difficult. But when you have your friends (at the gym), it’s much more enjoyable because in the summer you want to be with your friends,” said Healy, who lives in Glenview.
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Healy added: “(High school) meets (against local teams) are a lot less stressful because you’re competing against girls you know are going to be supportive of you. We’re still competitive and still want our teams to do well, but we don’t want the other team to do poorly.”
Many of AAG’s gymnasts say training at the gym has played a critical role in their success at the high school level. Some gymnasts even say the gym helped rekindle their love for the sport.
Maine South junior Jessie Saul has attended AAG for almost 10 years, but said she had become frustrated after struggling with wrist, shoulder and knee problems in recent years.
However, Saul said AAG coaches were particularly understanding, and focused on what she could do instead of what she could not do. That meant turning Saul into a uneven-bars specialist, an event in which she finished fifth (9.375) at the CSL South meet.
“If it had not been for AAG, I probably would have quit (gymnastics) because of a crazy coach pushing me too much,” said Saul, who lives in Park Ridge. “I wouldn’t have been able to do it.”
Saul said she was initially apprehensive about AAG’s recent addition of so many gymnasts, fearing overcrowding in the gym. She said there can be as many as 30 girls in the gym during an offseason training session.
“At first, I was kind of stressed out about it,” Saul said. “I didn’t think there would be as much attention on any one gymnast. But the coaches help you, and if they don’t, one of the other girls does.”
Saul added: “I also love it because we all get together at (high school) meets and it’s really fun. (Doing just one event) makes me nervous because I think about it too much (while waiting). But when I’m able to talk to people (on other teams), it takes my mind off of it.”
Results
New Trier won the six-team CSL South Meet with a 146.250. Glenbrook South was second (144.725) and Maine South finished third (143.700). Glenbrook South senior Hannah Hartley won the vault (9.675) and the all-around (38.175). She and Glenbrook South junior Bebe Haramaras tied for first on the balance beam (9.425). New Trier junior Emma Jane Rohrer finished first on bars (9.575) and floor exercise (9.575).
Dan Shalin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press