HINSDALE – Hinsdale South senior Maddie Nowak sought momentum for her final state gymnastics meet while competing at the Hinsdale Central sectional Feb. 10.

She did precisely that as she came away with her first sectional titles as part of her strongest meet of the season.

Nowak won all-around (37.65), vault (career-high 9.7) and uneven parallel bars (9.475), and was second on floor exercise (9.425) and third on balance beam (9.05) to advance to state in all five events.

“When you get to these big meets, sometimes you want to hold back. I was just going to go all out and it paid off,” Nowak said. “It showed me that I can have a lot of confidence in my training. If I feel good about that going into state then I can do just as well.”

The Hornets finished fourth as a team (136.70) after winning their first regional since 1989. Also competing at the sectional were senior Erica Meyer, sophomores Erin Haney, Kaitlin Hall, Elizabeth Lowery and Kayla O’Donnell, and freshman Patricia Iwaniec.

“The girls were incredibly happy. That’s definitely a great way to end the season,” Hinsdale South coach Mia Tritch said. “[Nowak] did wonderful. I think she was ecstatic about the meet.”

Nowak is the Hornets’ first gymnast to earn three career top-five all-state medals – and she did it all at the 2015 state meet. She tied for fourth on vault (9.7), was fifth on uneven bars (9.525) and tied for fifth in all-around (37.20). She also tied for seventh on floor (9.45).

Her latest sectional scores rank among the top-10 on everything but beam.

“At the end of the day, the scores don’t matter to me. The medals don’t matter to me,” Nowak said. “I just want to end [at state] with good routines that put a smile on my face.”

Hinsdale Central

After learning a standing back flip on beam midway through the season, sophomore Amanda Leon landed it for the first time this season at the sectional. She tied for fifth (8.85) to earn her first state trip.

“It’s just really shocking. My goal was just to stick my beam routine,” Leon said. “It’s difficult, but it’s satisfying in the end.”

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State meet info

When: 5:05 p.m. Feb. 19, 5:45 p.m. Feb. 20

Where: Palatine High School, 1111 N. Rohlwing Road, Palatine