When Maine South sophomore gymnast Caleigh Pistorius finished her balance beam routine at the state meet event finals, she pointed to her brother Jack in the crowd at Palatine High School and flashed a No. 1 sign with her index finger.
Caleigh Pistorius said she was indicating she had hit her best possible routine on Saturday, perhaps one worthy of a No. 1 finish.
There also was greater context to the gesture. Jack Pistorius, a senior, had been a standout linebacker on the Maine South football team that captured the Class 8A state title in November, and he had not been afraid to playfully remind his sister that he was a state champion, and she was not.
But in that moment after her routine, Caleigh Pistorius was letting her brother know that even before the judges had their say, and with five gymnasts still to perform, she had done all she could to bring another state title to the family’s Park Ridge home.
Caleigh Pistorius received a 9.425 score and, after everyone had competed, she finished tied with New Trier freshman, and close friend, Maeve Murdock for the state crown.
“(Now) my brother and I both share something very special,” said Caleigh Pistorius, who praised her brother for his constant support.
Jack Pistorius, who plans to play football at Middlebury College in Vermont, said he may have teased his sister about him being a state champion, but nobody was rooting for her more than he was.
“I’m very proud of her accomplishments,” Jack Pistorius said. “(Caleigh) works just as hard as I do and deserves to be a state champion more than anyone.”
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Jen Pistorius, Jack and Caleigh’s mother and the coach of the New Trier girls gymnastics team, joked that her home might become a quieter place with the state championship discussion now settled.
“I know there is no arguing in my house anymore,” Jen Pistorius said.
Caleigh Pistorius said tying Murdock for the crown was actually the ideal scenario. Caleigh Pistorius said she has known Murdock for seven or eight years and that they train together in the offseason.
“I tied with one of my best friends,” Caleigh Pistorius said. “It’s so much better (to tie with her). It feels so good that I can share it with someone.”
She added: “I’m pretty sure my mom (who is Murdock’s coach) was at her happiest moment (when she realized it was a tie).”
Caleigh Pistorius, who was Maine South’s only gymnast to reach the state individual finals, also finished seventh on floor exercise (9.475), ninth on vault (9.450) and 12th in the all-around (37.175).
Overcoming disappointment
In recent months, Maine South coaches and gymnasts said the Hawks had the talent to qualify for the program’s first state meet as a team in the modern era.
But Maine South counted a few falls at the Fremd Sectional on Feb. 7, and its 143.150 score was just shy of the 144.100 recorded by Lake Park and Conant, the last at-large state qualifiers.
“I’m so disappointed we’re not here as a team,” Maine South coach Tessa Robinson said at the state meet, where the Hawks had four individuals compete. “We really have the depth of talent this year. But that’s the sport: It’s one meet (sectionals) and you have to hit it there, or that’s it.
“It just gives you more drive and motivation for next year. Fortunately we’re only losing a few seniors, but we’ll still have a strong group who will come back next year.”
All four of Maine South’s individual state qualifiers are scheduled to return next winter. In addition to Pistorius, freshman Collette Roth finished 14th on uneven bars (9.200), junior Jessie Saul was 31st on bars (8.375) and sophomore Cristina DeFilippis finished 38th on vault (8.800).
Roth rising
Robinson said she predicts big things for Roth in the future; however, an ankle injury limited the all-arounder to doing just beam and bars in the state series.
Roth, who lives in Park Ridge, reached state on bars, and she said the most difficult part of the experience was waiting for her event, which was part of the last rotation at state prelims on Friday.
“That was definitely the worst,” Roth said. “When it’s the last event, you’re just waiting. You have to stay focused, calm yourself and be prepared.
“I was focusing on my other teammates at first, cheering them on. When it was getting close (to the event), I came into the practice gym and was by myself and was focusing. But I’m definitely happy with how I did today.”
Dan Shalin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press