Girls Gymnastics: Stitcher, Hogan advance to Niles North Sectional
by bill mclean Contributor February 7, 2012 6:34PM
Deerfield's Colleen Hogan performs her floor exercise routine in last Thursday's regional. She earned an sectional at-large berth in the event. | Joel Lerner~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 10, 2012 8:11AM
Renata Grzeskowiak, a 1988 Deerfield High School graduate, showed up at her alma mater last week to check out a regional girls gymnastics meet.
She was a Warriors gymnast, a member of varsity squads coached by Carol Myers, who continues to coach Warriors.
Grzeskowiak’s floor exercise score of 9.1 — achieved her senior year — ranks No. 14 all-time (big meets) in program history.
She had never seen Deerfield junior Christine Stitcher perform at a meet, before the Deerfield Regional on Feb. 2.
“Her competitiveness — you can see it in her eyes,” Grzeskowiak said. “She’s strong, mentally.”
She’s also a sectional qualifier, in all-around and on all four events. Stitcher advanced automatically in all-around (36.6 for 5th place) to the Niles North Sectional.
She also made it, at-large, on vault (9.175), bars (9.15), beam (9.2) and floor (9.075).
“My mindset, for this meet, was to get to the sectional,” said Stitcher, whose bars score climbed from 14th to eighth on the DHS all-time list in the event. “Because the sectional is a whole new game.”
Her teammate, senior Colleen Hogan, also gets to perform in the ‘new game.’ Hogan extended her season by qualifying, at-large, in all-around (33.875 for 6th place at the regional) and floor (8.825, 8th).
“I’m happy for Colleen, so happy,” Myers said. “She entered the season, her last season, and made a commitment to herself to get better and better. And she did that.”
Ally Perbohner, Nikki Katz, Allison Schneider, Leslie Ross and Molly Ross also competed for Deerfield.
Perbohner placed 10th in all-around (31.9).
Deerfield (134.275) finished runner-up behind two-time reigning champion Carmel Catholic (153.225). The Corsairs hit all 20 of their regional routines and finished 1-2-3 in all-around, and in three of the four events as well.
The lone interloper: Vernon Hills junior Alli Tran, who placed third on vault (9.65).
“Carmel has too much firepower,” Vernon Hills assistant Jesse Piland noted in the middle of the five-team meet.
Flips: Grzeskowiak teaches gymnastics to grade-schoolers at Lycee-Francais School, a K-12 school in Chicago.
Stitcher, on Myers: “She’s so supportive, and she keeps me relaxed at meets.”
Stitcher added a bail to her bars routine this winter.
A save isn’t just a baseball stat. Stitcher recorded one during her floor routine at last week’s regional. After a front full, she used a hand to prevent a total fall. The Warrior called it “a mishap.” Said Myers: “A nice save.”
On the schedule: Stitcher and Hogan vie for state-meet berths at the Niles North Sectional beginning at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
Flashback: Stitcher, the Warriors’ lone sectional qualifier, finished 13th in all-around (36.55) and tied for 15th place on floor (9.3) at last year’s Stevenson Sectional.
She qualified for State, at-large, in all-around.
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