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Sports

Girls Gymnastics: Red Devils Take 5th in State

Erin Usher ties for 7th place on floor and Kristen Grilli takes 9th place on beam to lead the team in Saturday's championships.

Perhaps Hinsdale Central is working toward winning its first state championship in 2015.

The Red Devils were in Palatine this weekend for the IHSA State Girls Gymnastics Finals and for the third straight year they improved on their finish.

Hinsdale Central finished in fifth place with a 146.975. Last year the Red Devils captured sixth place with a 144.025 and the year before that they closed in seventh place with a 145.625. If they continue the trend in coming years, they'd be due to win a state title in four years.

It was the team's best finish since it also took fifth place back in 1998. The closest the team has ever come to a state title was in 1996 when the Red Devils were the runner-up.

Showcasing its depth, similitude and talent, the Red Devils had four all-arounders in the lineup during Friday's preliminaries and none of their scores were less than 36.375 and none were higher than 36.75.

Junior Kristen Morgan had the 36.375, sophomore Erin Morgan finished with a 36.6, senior Leah Tarabour finished her high school career with a 36.675 and fellow senior Erin Usher led the team with a 36.75.

"We went from sixth (place last year) to fifth which was good," Usher said. "We were really happy with how we did. We really just wanted to go out and have a lot of fun, especially with three seniors who were doing gymnastics for the last time."

Usher and Grilli advanced to Saturday's IHSA State Final Championships. Usher would ultimately tie for seventh place on floor with a 9.375 while Grilli would fall off the beam, but finish strong. Still her score would be punished and she'd take ninth place with an 8.875.

"It was just fun to be out there in that atmosphere," Grilli said. "It's a different pressure than I've had before with everyone watching, but something I just need to get used to."

The ultimate goal for the team was to advance to the state finals, so getting to Friday's preliminaries meant that mission was accomplished for the Red Devils. It also meant the team would be loose, competing with nothing to lose against the other top teams in the state.

Carmel would win the title, its second consecutive championship. Carmel finished with a 149.45, followed by Lake Forest (148.450), Schaumburg (147.8) and Stevenson (146.95).

Fremd (145.425) followed Hinsdale Central for sixth place while Glenbard West (144.650) was seventh and Prairie Ridge co-op claimed eighth with a 143.5.

"We just focused on having fun," Tarabour said. "We weren't super competitive with the rest of the teams because our goal was to make it to state so we were pretty comfortable."

Tarabour's best score was a 9.425 on vault.

Glavin even found her fall on beam to be amusing. While she would've liked to have stayed on, the whole experience was a joyous one.

"It really was more about having fun then winning," she said. "Falling on beam at state was probably the most fun falling I could've had. Not that falling is ever fun, but we were so relaxed and just having a good time."

Morgan scored better than 9 in all four events. She was the only gymnast for Hinsdale Central to do so.

"We all did better than usual and it was probably because we didn't have any pressure to have to advance to another meet," Morgan said. "Plus we knew it would be a tough challenge to get into the top four or five, so we're really happy finishing right in the middle of the pack."



Hinsdale Central's full team results from Friday's preliminaries in the IHSA State Finals

Brenk, Cayley: 8.6 floor, 9.3 vault

Glavin, Maggie: 8.775 bars, 8.35 beam

Grilli, Kristen: 8.55 bars, 9.175 beam (advanced to Saturday's finals), 9.1 floor, 9.55 vault, 36.375 all-around

Morgan, Erin: 9.05 bars, 9.0 beam, 9.3 floor, 9.25 vault, 36.60 all-around

Tarabour, Leah: 9.1 bars, 9.3 beam, 8.85 floor, 9.425 vault, 36.675 all-around

Usher, Erin: 9.125 bars, 8.75 beam, 9.45 floor (advanced to Saturday's finals), 9.425 vault, 36.75 all-around

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