- November 30, 2018 Stevenson wins NSC crown
By Rusty Silber
Daily Herald
A year ago, Caitlin Pagano suffered a devastating fall on the bars in warm-ups right before the North Suburban Conference meet, which was being held at Stevenson.
Pagano had dislocated her elbow, forcing her to miss the meet, the state series and necessitating a couple of surgeries in the off-season.
On Friday night, a year later, she returned to the meet where the injury occurred and went right back on the bars in warm ups without hesitation.
�I had thought a lot about it during the day,� Pagano said. �It hit me when I was warming up. I looked at the bars and I remembered it. I just tried to forget about it and focus on what I was doing.
�(Coach) Harwood was telling me �If you�re going to fall, then you know how to fall.� I was like, �I shouldn�t worry about.'�
Pagano made it through warm-ups with no problems this time, and then made it count in the meet. She earned top honors with a 9.55 in the meet.
Success for Pagano helped Stevenson to another NSC title, this one at Vernon Hills. The Patriots finished at 149.5, ahead of Lake Forest (146.925) and Libertyville (143.325).
�The girls are doing great and I do like how they are working,� Stevenson coach Judy Harwood said. �We have confidence that we can hit our routines because we do them every day in practice over and over and over.�
The Patriots� Ali Castriano sure had a lot of confidence. She hit a Yurchenko layout, and received a career-best 9.9 and on her way to winning the event.
�I�ve never done that in any event,� said Pagano, who had a 9.7 at state last year. �All week, I had trouble with it in practice. I was just focusing on my power and trying to land it.�
Castriano also won the all-around (38.25), along with taking first on floor (9.6) and tying for second on bars with Lake Forest�s Kylie Carlson (9.4).
The Patriots� Theresa Wojton placed second in the all-around (37.4), took first on beam (9.6) and second on floor (9.45). Carlie Dobkin tied for fourth on bars with Vernon Hills� Alli Tran (9.35) and Pagano finished fifth on beam (9.4).
Tran has been one of the Cougars� steadily improving gymnasts and had one of her best routines on the bars.
�It was one of better ones, because I stuck my dismount, a double-back,� said Tran, a sophomore. �Right now, I�m trying to stay consistent.�
Libertyville�s Laura Herchenbach placed fourth in the all-around. She tied for third on vault with Grace Kohlmaier of Lake Forest (9.5) and took third on floor (9.4). Teammate Jenna Dunsing finished in a third-place tie with Mundelein�s Lisa Wajswol on the beam (9.45).
�It�s the best I�ve done in an invite,� said Dunsing, who had a 9.5 in a dual earlier this season. �I�ve been working on new skills this past week in practice and things worked out.�
The Mustangs� Wajswol also placed fifth in the all-around (37) and fifth on floor (9.3).
Copyright � 2011 Paddock Publications, Inc.
Reprinted by permission
