After a rough start on the uneven bars at the Oswego Sectional, Valley co-op girls gymnast Lucia Caruso knew the solution.

“To redeem myself on the other three events made me feel great,” Caruso said. “I was taking bars a little too seriously and I should have had more fun. Before all three of my other events I just had fun.”

The Waubonsie Valley senior excelled, especially on floor exercise, and earned her third straight trip to the state meet with a top-five sectional finish.

Caruso will at least go on floor, where after won with a 9.35. Last year, she surprised herself when she made the event finals and placed sixth.

“Fantastic (tonight). It felt like a really good routine and made me feel hyped,” Caruso said.

Defending state champion Downers Grove co-op overcame a flu B epidemic among the team to win with 144.2 points. Hinsdale South/Lemont co-op (138.5) and Valley co-op (132.625) were fourth and sixth.

“I know we can do a lot better (at state),” Downers Grove co-op coach Kristyn Campos said.

“Up until Saturday, we’ve been testing positive for the flu. We truly are just trying to survive. We were just trying to make it through. That’s all that mattered to me that they walked out on their own.”

Despite the recent illnesses and some conservative routines, junior Caroline Phillip won uneven bars (9.35), senior Kaelyn Landry and junior Edie Condon shared first on beam (9.22) and freshman Avery Perrone tied for first on vault (9.425).

This was just the third meet back for Condon from a back injury.

“We can do so much better, but we tried really hard today,” Phillip said.

“I had a little bit of a mishap (on uneven bars) but I fixed it. My hand slipped off the bar but then I caught it again.”

Hinsdale South/Lemont had two automatic qualifiers. Junior Emma Glashin was third on vault (9.4) on her layout Yurchenko and freshman Avery Davey was third on floor (9.2).

“I think we tried our best (as a team),” Glashin said. “I’ve improved so much from last year and it’s definitely really rewarding.”

Montini sophomore Abby Milas was third on uneven bars (9.025) and was fifth on floor (9.075) and in all-around (34.85). She is believed to be the school’s first state qualifier in the sport.

“I’m really proud of myself for representing Montini,” said Milas after just her third high school meet. “(State) was an idea in my head. I didn’t know in my head if I could pull it off.”