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GLEN ELLYN – As the first four-year Glenbard South varsity girls gymnast and competitive cheerleader in recent memory, senior Brooke Poltrock confronts numerous schedule conflicts from the overlapping seasons.
Last January, Poltrock competed with the cheerleaders at the Peoria Sectional and raced back in time to join the gymnasts at Riverside-Brookfield for the Upstate Eight Conference Meet.
“It was stressful and I wasn’t sure I was going to make it on time. But I did pretty good,” Poltrock said. “It happens, though.”
Poltrock competed in her second and final District 87 Invitational Tuesday at Glenbard East.
Glenbard West (140.75 points) won for the ninth straight time, followed by Glenbard North (131.60), Glenbard South (season-high 121.45) and Glenbard East (season-high 119.45).
Glenbard West senior Sammy Hopper won all-around (35.90) and floor exercise (9.45), Glenbard West sophomore Grace Flint won uneven parallel bars (9.25) and balance beam (9.05) and Glenbard North senior Carly Bachara won vault (9.35).
All-arounder Poltrock had three of the Raiders’ top event scores with a seventh-place 8.3 on beam. Because of a wrist injury, she would have declined uneven bars if it weren’t her final event.
“I really felt that I did a lot better than the last meet,” Poltrock said. “Bars was rough but I wasn’t really thinking it was going to be good. But I’m glad I got 8s on everything else.”
The Hilltoppers just missed their 140.85 season high behind five all-arounders – Hopper, Flint (4th, 35.20), senior Skylar Oh (5th, 34.35), senior Autumn White and sophomore Leah Chapski. Last season, Flint only competed uneven bars for the Hilltoppers’ fourth-place state lineup with individual state qualifiers Hopper, Oh and White.
“It’s really fun, everyone competing all-around. Last year, it was all over the place,” Flint said. “If you’re not happy with how you did, then you can come back on other events and redeem yourself.”
Flint landed her new uneven bars dismount. Oh (9.4) completed the Hilltoppers’ 1-2 finish on floor, Hopper was second on vault (9.3) and Chapski and White shared third on beam (8.7).
“It’s always a little bit of a different experience competing over winter break,” Glenbard West coach Carlos Fuentes said. “A lot of highlights here, really no big misses. This gave us a little bit of an opportunity to try new skills and get ready for the second half. We feel we have several points still in us.”
Glenbard East bested its 117.10 from Dec. 7. Junior Emma Iwaniszyn shared fourth on floor with Flint (8.75).
“My floor was pretty solid today and as a team we did pretty good overall,” Iwaniszyn said.
Senior Ella Kud was part of the Rams’ 2020 fourth-place state lineup.
“It definitely is different but I will say we still put pressure on ourselves but we don’t have as much outside pressure so we’re able to really enjoy our practices and our team has really bonded,” Kud said.
Gymnastics is Poltrock’s main sport but she quit club entering freshman year. She tried cheerleading for the first time.
“(Competing both), I feel like I work really hard,” Poltrock said. “There’s people that do multiple varsity sports, but nobody that does it in the same season.”
Glenbard South coach Lee Wood had a handful of athletes compete both teams but usually junior varsity gymnasts. As a senior, 2016 graduate Stephanie Mondragon first showed that competing both varsity sports could be handled successfully. Mondragon now is Wood’s assistant coach and recently completed her doctorate for physical therapy.
“I think (Poltrock is) proud of it. If she doesn’t hear it from Steph and me, I hope she hears it from her teammates,” Wood said. “Knowing she’s already tired when she gets here is hard for me but I just want to help it. Her parents have been a big supporter, too, driving from one cheer thing to a gym meet. They know she can handle it. They know she likes it and she’s dedicated and that’s a good three things.”
This postseason, the cheerleading Conant Sectional and UEC Meet at Glenbard South are just 30 minutes away.
“It’s really hard to balance both of them. For cheer, if I’m not there, it affects the team (routine),” Poltrock said. “Time management is something I’ve really learned.”
Glenbard North add Bachara, a newcomer to high-school gymnastics, forms a strong 1-2 combination with senior and returning state qualifier Brooklyn McQuillan.
“It’s a lot of fun. I love the team, love all of the girls,” Bachara said. “They’re so supportive.” Bachara’s pike Yurchenko vault earned a season-high score. She also finished second in all-around (35.50) and uneven bars (9.2) and third on floor (8.85).
Despite a challenging day, McQuillan was third in all-around (35.40), second on beam (8.85) and third on uneven bars (8.8).
“I would say forgetting three different things would be a highlight. I was a little bit frazzled,” McQuillan said laughing. “I forgot my leotard, my grips so I was doing bars on brand new grips. It’ll be a District 87 to remember, that’s for sure.”