Girls Gymnastics: A historic day for Lincoln-Way’s Pohrte
By Jeff Vorva For Sun-Times Media January 26, 2013 10:32PM
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Updated: March 28, 2013 2:19AM
Lincoln-Way’s co-op team was expected to win its fourth straight SouthWest Suburban Conference Saturday and it didn’t disappoint.
Andrew senior Jamie Valla was hoping to win her fourth straight all-around conference title but multiple problems to her right leg limited her to the uneven bars event, which she won, and that opened some doors for other conference stars to shine at Homewood-Flossmor.
It allowed Lincoln-Way sophomore Kaila Pohrte to make history.
Pohrte, who rang up a 35.200 is the first SWSC girls gymnastics all-around champion in Lincoln-Way history.
“I never had one since this conference started and I may never have had a conference all-around champion,” veteran Lincoln-Way coach Skip Adamson said. “There have been a series of girls from other teams who have been very good. It’s been awhile or it’s never happened, so it’s a major accomplishment for Kaila.”
Pohrte won the vault, took second on the balance beam and took third in the uneven bars and floor exercise.
She said she heard about Valla’s injury but wasn’t thinking about winning the individual title.
“I was pretty much worried about my own routines and all of that,” Pohrte said. “If it (a championship) worked out, then it worked out. I’m really happy with the way my routines went so it paid off.”
Homewood-Flossmoor’s Aleigha Williams took second all-around with a 34.825 and won the floor exercise. Sandburg’s Anna Girlich was third with a 34.450 and Lockport’s Kacie Kenney, who won the balance beam event, took fourth with a 33.050.
Valla hurt her soleus tendon recently and also has a bone spur and cyst in her right leg. She received a cortisone shot on Wednesday and was advised to rest it until Tuesday’s regional competition but opted to make at least one appearance in her final conference meet.
When she landed to finish her beam routine, she grimace in pain while trying to smile for the judges and was tended to by trainers for 15 minutes.
“I accepted that the landing was going to hurt,” she said. ‘I tried to put more pressure on one leg over the other. Today was a good test. It was tough because I wanted to win conference all four years but it’s all right. I liked watching the other girls do so well.”
Lincoln-Way scored 133.475 points to win its fourth straight title followed by the Sandburg-Stagg Co-op team (128.125), Homewood-Flossmoor (127.075), Andrew (122.650) and two individuals from Lockport (61.700).
