Junior gymnast Brooke Lussnig made her state meet debut last season for Geneva as an individual and enjoyed the experience.
It would have been better with a little company.
So, in addition to working hard with her teammates to improve over the offseason, Lussnig also did a little recruiting, getting senior Sadie Karlson to come aboard.
“It was a team effort to try to get her to come out,” Lussnig said. “I know she’d been thinking about it for the past couple years, and it was just great to see her finally come out.”
Karlson, who had only done club gymnastics before this season, proved to be the final piece of the puzzle for Geneva. The Vikings not only qualified for state as a team but surprised by earning the third-place trophy Saturday at Palatine.
The Vikings scored 143.425 points. Downers Grove South co-op won the title with 145.575. Vernon Hills took second with 144.975.
It’s just the second time Geneva has won a trophy in program history. The Vikings were second in 2015.
“It feels great,” Lussnig said. “It’s something that I never expected, and it just feels surreal.”
Karlson always expected to try high school gymnastics.
“Since freshman year, I told them I was going to try out at some point,” Karlson said. “It obviously didn’t work out until senior year, but they would text me and Snapchat me and be like, ‘Hey, we need you on the team. It’s so much more fun.'”
That aspect is what convinced Karlson.
“It’s such a different experience than club gymnastics,” Karlson said. “It’s more of a team thing. You win as a team, you lose as a team, you do everything as a team.
“It’s really awesome being able to end up at state with the entire team.”
The Vikings proved to be more than the sum of their parts as Karlson and junior Graci Weems were the only gymnasts to advance to Saturday’s 10-person individual event finals.
After each scored 9.3 to tie for fifth place on vault during Friday’s prelims, Karlson tied for fifth in the finals with a 9.325 while Weems placed ninth at 9.3.
Qualifying for event finals is a huge accomplishment, but Weems enjoyed it. By then, the Vikings had already secured their trophy.
“It was definitely stressful, very high pressure,” Weems said. “But I knew going in that we were already third, so I felt like I should just have fun.
“Nothing is going to change the scores, so just give it my all and try my best.”
That’s what Karlson did, too. She became just the third individual state medalist in program history, although that wasn’t her focus entering the meet.
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“Honestly, just getting to state as a team was our main goal the entire season,” Karlson said. “Once we were here, our coach told us to go out there and have fun, and that’s exactly what we did.
“I don’t want to say we had no fears, but we just went in like we have nothing to lose. We gave it our all.”
Weems finished 26th in the all-around (35.2) and tied for 31st on beam (8.05), while freshman Reese Lackey took 19th on floor (8.975).
Lussnig, who tied for 20th on vault (9.375), was a crucial leader.
“She’s been working on the girls to work hard — to stay mentally tough so we could all be here together,” Geneva coach Kim Hostman said. “I’ve always told them it’s super fun to get here as a team because it’s a lot less stressful when you have teammates around you.”
Lussnig can attest to that.
“It was great for them to be out there with me because it’s very nerve-wracking by yourself,” Lussnig said. “Having the team with me was so much fun.”
As was being part of a team.
“This is awesome,” Karlson said. “I couldn’t imagine it being any better. I’m so proud of everybody.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.