Oak Park-River Forest gymnast Iriel Conley is doing her best to make up for lost time — or a lost season in her case.
Conley advanced to sectionals as a freshman, but then took a break from gymnastics her sophomore year. Returning to the sport as a junior, Conley was able to reach sectionals again, competing in the all-around, vault, and balance beam at Hinsdale Central on Tuesday.
She took off sophomore year to focus on school and work on improving her grades. While not competing in gymnastics, she did join cheerleading to keep in shape and still do sometumbling.
There were a number of factors that led Conley to return to gymnastics, including the urging of her mother a few weeks before tryouts.
“I missed my teammates and I missed being with the team,” said Conley, who lives in River Forest. “Also, just being in practice late, and really grinding. I really just missed the sport of gymnastics itself.”
Gaining the experience of not competing for a year, Conley returned with a different attitude.
“I am a little bit more focused, and a little bit more mature,” Conley said. “I take it more seriously now than I did before. When I was a freshman, I was not really trying as hard and now I am.”
Huskies coach Kris Wright noticed a difference when Conley came back this season. Wright did not know Conley was going to come back until a few days before tryouts.
“She came back this year and has just been working so hard,” Wright said. “She came in as a totally different kid. She is focused, and had a game plan….She is just an awesome kid, coming back in quiet, focused. She takes care of business.”
Even with a new perspective, it did take some time for Conley to regain some of her old form after a year off.
“She was not 100-percent coming in the door,” Wright said. “But every practice, she kept adding more difficulty of things she used to have, to get to the point she is at right now. She had an amazing meet going into regionals and was totally focused.”
More Top Picks Panasonic Ni L70sr Cordless
With so much time off, and even after a full season under her belt, Conley still feels like she in not completely back to full speed.
“It is the conditioning, and also my endurance, I think that needs more work,” Conley said. “The body movement of gymnastics, itself, I feel that is hard to get used to, getting back in the swing of things. That is why I really want to drill technique.”
Conley is going to stick with gymnastics this offseason, and she plans to do more training along with another slight mental adjustment for her senior year.
“I am going to be a little more focused, not so much just to myself, but also enjoying my teammates, as well,” Conley said.
Wright also has high expectations for junior Evelyn Dellegrazie next year . She injured her ankle at the first meet of the season, but was able to return to compete in vault and uneven parallel bars at the sectional.
“Everything comes with practice, if I had a little more time to practice, I could have done a little bit better,” Dellegrazie said. “But I am happy with the outcome.”
Patrick Kelly is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press
Twitter @Pioneer_Press