Girls Gymnastics: Andrew’s Valla earns elusive title
By Jeff Vorva For Sun-Times Media January 5, 2013 8:48PM
Rewdjety Redick, Homewood-Flossmoor High School, competes in the balance beam during the twenty-second annual Lincoln-Way High School girls gymnastic invitational at Lincoln-Way East High School in Frankfort, IL on saturday January 5, 2013. | Matt Marton~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: February 7, 2013 6:30AM
Pressure?
That’s gone for Andrew’s Jamie Valla.
Fun?
That’s what she is concentrating on.
The senior has just a few weeks to go before her high school gymnastics career is over and said she is not putting pressure on herself despite missing a majority of the postseason last year with an injury.
Valla, who has won conference and regional all-around titles in the past, won her first invitational all-around title as she scored a 37.825 at the 12-team Lincoln-Way Invitational on Saturday in Frankfort.
“This was my goal for four years,” Valla said. “I was so close at Homewood-Flossmoor earlier in the season and took second. I finally did it today. I’m super happy.”
Valla finished 30th in the state in the all-around as a freshman with a 34.450 and moved up to 17th as a sophomore with a 36.450. Last year she opened the season recovering from thumb surgery and then suffered an Achilles injury warming up at sectionals and didn’t compete.
This season she went in with a different attitude about the sport and her coach thinks it has made a difference.
“Maybe since it’s her last year she is having a lot more fun at these meets,” Andrew coach Alison Hack said. “She’s learned to have fun and not put so much pressure on herself. She’s not so hard on herself.”
Lincoln-Way’s co-op team, led by sophomore Kaila Pohrte’s sixth-place finish in the all-around, was fifth. Andrew took ninth, Sandburg-Stagg’s co-op was 10th and Homewood-Flossmoor claimed 11th. H-F’s Aleigha Williams was ninth in the all-around.
Fremd won its 19th title in the 22 years of the meet with a 146.425. Geneva took second with a 141.350.
Fremd had an 11-meet winning streak from 2001 to 2011 snapped last season when Glenbard North nipped the Vikings 145.275-144.775.
