Carmel senior Sammi Lococo tried to regain her balance, but just couldn’t stay on the beam during Friday’s girls gymnastics state meet in Palatine.
Lococo, who was the final competitor of the afternoon, wore the disappointment on her face but finished her routine in strong fashion, helping the Corsairs move into fourth place with 145.125 points.
Prairie Ridge co-op leads DeKalb/Sycamore co-op 148.7-146.875, while Glenbrook South is sitting in third place with a 146.575.
“There was a lot of talent here at state and state is always a fun meet to be at, so it’s tough,” Carmel coach Nicole Stroup said. “(Friday) might not have been their best meet.
“But when they look back they’ll have a lot of great memories and remember the friendships they built and the enjoyable experience they had here.”
Stroup said the Corsairs don’t have a chance of climbing into third place during Saturday’s individual event finals and won’t duplicate last year’s third-place effort.
Lococo will represent the Corsairs on bars and floor.
“It’s pretty funny that it’s going to end this way because bars used to be my favorite and then they got a little too difficult,” Lococo said. “Now I’m going back on bars and on floor, my two favorites now. Hopefully I can have a better ending.”
She placed ninth on bars with a 9.325 and tied Geneva senior Claire Rose Ginsberg for the top floor score with a 9.575.
“I’m very excited to be able to come back and go out there one final time,” Lococo said. “We made some mistakes we weren’t happy with. Overall I don’t think we’re too disappointed, but you don’t want to look back and have any regrets.”
Lococo also finished ninth in the all-around with a 37.325.
She almost completed her beam routine without a major mistake, but something felt wrong late in her performance.
“I don’t know what it was but I just felt like something was off,” she said. “I tried to save it, but when you’re off you’re off and there was nothing I could do about it.”
It proved to be the final meet for Carmel senior Anna Osowski, who placed 25th on vault. Classmates Madison Graff, Colleen Kadowaki, Alyssa Legarreta and Samantha Wahlers also completed their careers.
“I think we’re all going to miss this,” Lococo said. “That’s why (Friday) was so emotional. I think we’ve all finally realized that this is the end.”
Carmel freshman Isabella Kropiweic narrowly advanced on vault. The top 10 finishers earn a berth in the individual finals, and she placed 12th with a 9.525. The cutoff was a 9.6.
Mundelein senior Taylor Shanahan was 19th in the all-around with a 36.275.
Other notable Lake County-area competitors included a trio of freshmen. Barrington’s Ashley Diaz scored an 8.95 on bars and Lauren Tenbrunsel had a 9.2 on floor. Ally Landis earned an 8.9 on beam in her state meet debut for Vernon Hills.
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Chris R. Walker is a freelance writer for the News-Sun.