Gymnastics: Oswego co-op freshman Sam Phillip ties for 10th in vault at state meet

PALATINE – A couple years ago Sam Phillip came and watched the last state girls gymnastics finals.

On Saturday she became the first Oswego co-op gymnast to compete in any of the individual event finals in 19 years.

Phillip tied for 10th place with Vernon Hills senior Shihori Takenaka on vault with a 9.3. The only other freshman to advance to the finals on vault, also won it, as Takenaka’s teammate, Livy Tran, tied Libertyville junior Anna Becker for the title with a 9.725.

“My vault was pretty good,” Phillip said. “With everyone here watching you it is kind of scary, but I thought it went really good. I’m proud of myself and everyone here.”

While Phillip did not match the 9.425 vault that she registered during Friday’s preliminary round, she became the first Oswego gymnast to compete on the final and biggest stage of the season since Kasey Bell took eighth on beam and 10th on floor in 2003.

“I met a lot of new friends this year so this has been a lot of fun,” Phillip said. “Our team has done so good this year. I’m so proud of what we’ve done and what we’ve overcome. We didn’t make it to state (as a team) but that’s OK. We got our highest score this year.”

Phillip credits her teammates for helping push her to new heights.

“There’s stuff that I’ve been a little scared of doing that my teammates have helped me with in becoming who I am today,” she said. ”They’ve been supportive and always make me feel better.”

Phillip also was among the state qualifiers in the floor exercise, scoring an 8.925 on Friday.

Senior Kelsie Freundt also represented Oswego co-op at state, scoring a 9.05 on beam during the preliminaries but failing to advance to the finals. Freundt advanced to state on beam during the three years she had a chance to compete in a state series, including at the last state tournamen tin 2020.

Freundt also qualified for state on floor for the second time as a high school gymnast, scoring an 8.75.

She also received the John Brinkworth Memorial Scholarship along with Prospect’s Kaiya Koyanagi.

While Oswego will sorely miss Freundt, as well as  fellow seniors Gwen Berenyi and Amelia Soriaga, the team can return a lot of talent next winter.  With Phillip looking to lead the way after such a debut, the team will certainly need to fill some spots.

Oswego has been blessed with healthy numbers in the program and it could see manager Emily Thomas, a state qualifier two years ago, return next winter, while Phillip’s older sister Kylie will be a senior. Sarah Mustafa, Sophie Perez, Hailey Soriaga, among others, can all return to try to win a fifth straight regional title.