From 1978 to 1983, you always knew where the state high school girls`
gymnastics championship trophy would be. Du Page County was the place the best gymnasts danced and tumbled.
Addison Trail won its first state title in 1978 and didn`t relinquish the crown until 1982, when Glenbard North won its first of two straight team titles.
These teams are no longer considered threats. New teams have taken over.
Addison Trail has had lean years since 1982, the last year it qualified for the state finals as a team. In 1983, four Addison Trail individuals qualified for state. Only one, Jackie Ortman, managed a top-five finish. In 1984, only three individuals reached state, and last year only two.
Glenbard North`s downfall has come just recently, coinciding with the graduation of Beth Benevente and Gina Savegnago last June.
This year, both teams` high scores have been in the low-to-mid 130s, about 10 points off state-qualifying material. Glenbard North finished third Saturday in the Du Page Valley Conference meet with 129.85 points. Naperville North won with 141.5. Addison Trail took fourth in the Des Plaines Valley League with 137.95 points. Downers Grove South and Willowbrook tied for first at 141.
Why are teams that were synonymous with gymnastics success suddenly in the same middle class as so many others?
”Simple,” said Addison Trail coach Fred Dennis. ”The very good clubs we had in the area are gone. Gymnastics Unlimited and M&L went out of business. They, more than anything else, helped make our teams what they were. We were the beneficiaries of their residuals.
”During our glory years, only five or six other teams had club kids. In our glory years, winning the state meet was more like winning a conference meet.”
In Addison Trail`s heyday, its roster included Sheri Klein, Nadine Plamer, Dawn Helsten, Aline Robinson, Karen Glad and Ortman.
Glenbard North also boasted quality gymnasts, including Marianne Pedregal, Sue Soldat, Savegnago and Benevente.
”It`s a combination of reasons,” said Glenbard North coach Don Karamitsos. ”Any of the newfound powers are replete with club gymnasts. If you have club gymnasts supplemented with some good gymnasts that the coach can develop, it makes for a successful team. You can`t start with just kids with interest and have the coach develop them, and compete with the pre-teen club girls.
”The key to winning for us was five or six good club girls, and adding a couple interested kids who had talent and a few interested kids who were willing to learn.”
The club gymnasts need little real coaching; encouragement and reminders are best.
Only two Chicago-area clubs continue to turn out gymnasts in large numbers: the Palatine Park District feeds Palatine and Fremd High Schools, and the Olympia Gymnastics Club in Olympia Fields feeds Stagg High School. Addison Trail and Glenbard North still get club gymnasts, but not as many as before.
”If you have club kids, you don`t need to know too much to coach them,” Dennis said. ”You actually can be a bad coach. They do it all themselves.”
Karamitsos concurred, saying: ”It`s not a question of what can I teach a club gymnast. It`s how can I help get their routines to what scores high.”
Club gymnasts come in classes. In descending order, there`s elite, then Class I, II, III and IV. Take three or more Class I gymnasts or one or two elites and you have a contender.
”If you don`t have those type of gymnasts, forget it,” Dennis said.
”You could be Bela Karolyi and you can`t do anything. The club girls used to come to our programs. They don`t anymore. They don`t want to come here just because we`re Addison Trail, regardless of our tradition.”
Karamitsos said freshman Carolyn Wilkinson is the right kind of girl to start a program with. At Addison, sophomore Leah Fuscone and junior Patrice DuMerer are the club standouts. Fuscone has worked with Palmer`s Gym Club of Bloomingdale and the Elk Grove Gym Center. DuMerer has worked at the Aerial Gym Club of Lombard.
”For the two of us, I think it`s gone,” Dennis said. ”And, it`s unlikely to come back. If we get clubs near us again, maybe. But, I can`t see that happening soon.”
