Oswego gymnasts Sam Phillip and Ava Sullivan weren’t alive when Ozzy Osbourne and Gloria Estefan were at the peak of their musical powers in the 1980s.
But that didn’t stop the sophomores from dancing to the beat of two classic songs at Friday’s state meet at Palatine.
Phillip and Sullivan performed back-to-back on floor exercise, and both delighted the crowd with energetic routines. Their choice of music must have brought smiles to the faces of the middle-aged fans in attendance.
Phillip went first with a routine choreographed to Osbourne’s “Crazy Train.”
“Me and my mom were in the car and we were trying to look for music that I could do for my next routine,” Phillip said. “She said everyone has all the same music, and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I know.’
“She’s like, ‘You should get something more your style — more upbeat.’ So we typed in ‘rock music,’ I guess, and then (Osbourne) came up and I actually really liked it. I hear it in the car all the time.”
The lyrics of Ozzy’s tune resonate with teenagers facing mental stress, but Phillip’s floor routine didn’t go off the rails. She landed all her tumbling passes and scored a 9.0.
Sullivan followed by hitting her routine for a 9.125, backed by music of a similar vintage but different genre. She rumbled to “Conga” by Miami Sound Machine, another choice sure to resonate with her Gen X parents.
But they had nothing to do with the choice of music.
“I’ve had this music for five years,” Sullivan said. “I brought it from club. It had been passed through the generations, I guess, and then I just started using it.”
Phillip and Sullivan said they use the music to get energized on floor. Does it reflect their personalities?
“I think so,” Sullivan said. “We like it. It’s a lot of fun.”
Phillip and Sullivan had plenty of fun at state, where each barely missed advancing to Saturday’s individual event finals.
Phillip, who was making her second appearance at state, qualified in the all-around for the first time and finished 30th with a 34.75 score.
The highlight was not the floor routine but her final event in the vault, where she stuck her pike tsuk for a career-high 9.525. Oswego coach Amanda Zielske
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said that is believed to be a program record.Phillip, who usually takes a hop or two on the landing, was thrilled.
“I did not know I was going to actually stick it because I’ve only probably done one stick ever,” Phillip said. “I’m not a sticker.
“I stuck it last year (at state), so that was like my first stick.”
Phillip made the finals in the vault last year, finishing 10th with a 9.3 after scoring 9.425 in prelims. But despite getting a higher score this year, it was not enough to advance to finals.
Phillip placed 12th, missing the cut by .025.
Sullivan was making her debut at the state meet. She tied for 12th on floor, missing the finals by .05, and the balance beam, where her 8.95 was .025 shy of the finals.
But Sullivan, who did club gymnastics last season, was just happy to follow in Phillip’s footsteps. She wants to upgrade her bars and vault so she can qualify in the all-around.
“Seeing the things Sam has been doing makes me more motivated,” Sullivan said. “Because there’s some skills I want to learn in the future.”
Even though they rocked out to the sounds of Ozzy and Estefan, neither Phillip or Sullivan has much interest in learning more about them.
“I’m not about that music, definitely,” Sullivan said. “But I like my floor routine.”
Like Sullivan, Phillip is more a fan of contemporary pop music. Classic rock, not so much.
“Personally, I don’t listen to it,” Phillip said. “But my mom and dad do, so I listen to it when I’m there.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.