Schools
Lincoln Way Boys Gymnasts Are 2011 State Champs
The boys gymnastics team won a state championship Friday evening. Junior Ajani Cargle won the all-around title. A parade will roll through the district in their honor on Sunday.
Just call them state champs.
The Lincoln-Way High School Co-Op boys gymnastics team won the 2011 state championship Friday in the squad's home gym.
The team won its first boys gymnastics state title since 2006, finishing in strong fashion on the floor exercise, to keep Wheaton Co-Op from sending the team to its fourth straight second-place finish.
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Tyler Yost contributed a 9.35, Victor Valencia had a 9.55 and Ajani Cargle followed with a season-best 9.5 to propel Lincoln-Way to a new season-high of 163.
"We had a lot of different kids step up for us today," Lincoln-Way coach Skip Adamson said. "Every kid plugged away really well for themselves and it helped the team."
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Cargle won the all-around title with a 55.45, becoming the first boys gymnast to win a team title and all-around title since Lincoln-Way's Brian Hulbert completed the feat in 2006.
Still, the perfectionist in Cargle wasn't too pleased with his individual performance, which included a fall during his high bar routine.
"It doesn't feel like I thought it would," he said. "I didn't have the great meet I wanted and had some mistakes. I'm proud of my teammates for winning it with me not doing too much."
A strong performance might have taken some of the suspense out the battle for the title, but Cargle's score was still tops on the night and very much needed by Lincoln-Way. Still, it took far more than Cargle's 55.45 to push the team past Wheaton.
Tyler Yost had a 9.65 on vault and an 8.95 on horizontal bar, Ryan Reif led the team on still rings with a 9.4, Jake Gratkowski had a 9.1 on parallel bars and 9.450 on pommel horse and Evan Hosman reached 9 for the first time in his career on still rings.
"That was so much fun and the right time to do it," Hosman said. "I had made mistakes early in the season but we talked to the judges about deductions and kept working on fixing them. Eventually I fixed them and got the score I needed today."
Hosman had tweaked his ankle in warm-ups but showed no ill effects while competing.
It did put a scare into Adamson, who lost senior standout Ryan Mars to an injury three weeks before the state meet and Gratkowski mere hours before the national anthem last year. This year, all that was needed was tape for Hosman's ankle and plenty of smiles for championship photos after the trophy presentation.
"It still hasn't sunk in all the way," Hosman said. "I'm floating right now. It's an awesome feeling. It took awhile, but was worth it. The meet seemed to slow down with all the suspense, but now it just feels so good."
And it feels better than second place, although finishing as the runner-up the past three years was also a huge accomplishment.
"It's a pleasure either way," Adamson said. "Some people don't see it this way, but you have to win second, and you win third and every team is trying to win something while going away here."
Still, there's no place better to go once you take first.
"It's sunk in just a little bit, so we'll see how I feel tomorrow morning," Valencia said. "It'll probably hit me like a truck."
The team scores were: Lincoln-Way Co-Op 163; Wheaton-Warrenville South Co-Op 161.25; Downers Grove North 156.65; Naperville North 152.65; Palatine 149.55; Highland Park 149.4; Mundelein 148.5; Glenbrook South 145.7.
Parade on Sunday
The school district announced Sunday parade plans Friday night on its website.
The gymnastics meet continues Saturday with individual competitions. Look to Patch for coverage throughout the weekend.
Sunday's parade and trophy celebration is as follows:
PARADE (11:30 - 2 p.m.)
11:30 a.m.: Line up at Manhattan Junior High parking lot.
12:00 p.m.: Parade leaves from Manhattan Junior High proceeding east on Smith Road to Foxford (turn right). Take Foxford to Rt. 52 South (turn left) to E. North Street (Manhattan-Monee Road) east (turn left). The procession will turn into Eastern Avenue off Manhattan-Monee Road to unload the fire truck and load the school bus. Return to Manhattan-Monee Road.
Continue east on Manhattan-Monee Road to Cedar Road (turn left). North on Cedar to Laraway Road, turn left onto Laraway. Proceed to Gougar Road, turn right (north). Proceed to the south entrance of Lincoln-Way West High School and continue around school to behind the athletic stadium.
12:25 p.m.: Bus will unload at the parking lot behind the stadium and the students will load the fire trucks. Exit Lincoln-Way West, turn right and head east on Illinois Highway to Cedar Road. Turn left on Cedar Road and travel north on Cedar to Haven Road (turn left). West on Haven to Veteran's Parkway (right) on Veterans Parkway. Circle around Veterans Parkway once and load bus in New Lenox Library parking lot. Take Route 30 to Schoolhouse Road North (turn left). Turn right on Francis and go east to Laporte.
12:40 p.m.: Travel to Mokena Park District parking lot. Have students exit bus and load on fire trucks.
1:11 p.m.: Back on LaPorte Road west to Wolf Road. Go north on Wolf to Front Street. Turn right on Front. Proceed east to Mokena Police Dept.
1:19 p.m.: Turn right on Schoolhouse Road, south to LaPorte Road. Go left (east). Continue east past Rt. 45 to Crystal Lake Way. Go right to St. Francis Road (2.27). Turn left (east) to 84th Avenue. Stop and have students load onto fire trucks. Proceed east to Frankfort Square Road. Turn right (south) to Rt. 30.
1:36 p.m.: Turn right on Rt. 30. Turn left on Pfeiffer (2:39) to Charrington Drive. Turn right. Proceed to 92nd Avenue and go left to Nebraska. Turn right. Load on fire trucks at Indian Boundary Park.
1:43 p.m.: Proceed west on Nebraska to Maple Street, (turn right) to Kansas Street. (Turn right). Stop to load students on bus (allow 5 minutes), continue to White Street (turn left).
1:53 p.m.: Bus back to Rt. 45, north back to east parking lot.
1:58 p.m.: Arrive back in parking lot.
Estimated time would be one hour covering Mokena, Frankfort Square and Frankfort. Presentation ceremony in the Lincoln-Way East gymnasium will follow parade.
PRESENTATION (2 - 2:45 p.m.)
2 p.m.: Opening remarks
2:05 p.m.: Introduction of coaches
2:10 p.m.: Introduction of players
