Suburban Life Female Most Valuable Athlete: Anna Diab, Glenbard West, gymnastics, junior

WHY SHE WAS SELECTED:

Diab scored an all-time best 38.15 to win the all-around, won balance beam with a 9.7 and shared the title in the floor exercise with a 9.6 and vault with a 9.6 to lead the Hilltoppers to their seventh consecutive District 87 title.

Diab talked about the meet, the start to the season and more with Suburban Life sports editor Joshua Welge. Here is an edited version of the transcript.

Welge: Was this meet a little different, given that it's against girls that you know?

Diab: It's very different. It's interesting because we know everybody and what they can do. We know what we're getting into when we compete against them. We were happy, we did really well on three events, but we had a rough time on parallel bars. We're trying to improve on that and improve on everything, mainly fix our mistakes.

Welge: You won the all-around and multiple events. Does one performance stand out?

Diab: I thought my balance beam was pretty solid. I wasn't shaky. I had a few mess ups, but I was pretty solid and wasn't nervous. It was a good way to finish the meet.

Welge: Your team graduated a ton of seniors, including your sister, off last year's state championship team. How good can this team be?

Diab: I think we have a lot of potential to do good. We don't have a goal. We just want to try our hardest, to finish the season knowing that we did everything we could do to end the way we did.

Welge: Was it an adjustment not having Maddie [Diab] around?

Diab: I've been used to practicing with her since I was a little girl. It's very different. She'd always been at home, at practice and at school with me. I've got used to it, but it was hard at the beginning. Because she's my sister and my best friend I've tried to learn from her. I see how motivated she was and I try to be like that.

Welge: When did you start gymnastics?

Diab: I started when I was 2 years old. I remember parent and tot classes with my mom. My parents own the gym that I do club at. I was born into a gymnastics family and I liked it ever since and I stuck with it just like my siblings. I think my best memory was probably in seventh grade when I won all-around at a meet. That was the first time I won something.