Cuevas Shines for Niles North at Gymnastics Sectional Finals

When Niles North’s team was announced for the walk-in at Thursday night’s gymnastics sectional competition, the Vikings had already rewritten the record books.

For the first time in school history, Niles North won the CSL North and regional championships. Advancing to sectionals had been their goal all season.

So the sectional competition was a bonus, a reward for all the hard work they had put in over the season. Niles North finished in fourth place as a team on Thursday night with a score of 137.725, breaking the school record they set last week at the regional competition.

“It’s really exciting just making it here as a team,” Niles North coach Charlie Friedman said. “That was my goal from the get-go. Today it was nice being at our home gym.”

The Vikings started off strong in the vault, but Friedman said their collective performance on uneven bars and balance beam wasn’t as strong compared to the regionals.

However Friedman complimented their ability to come back and finish with great floor routines.

“At the beginning of the year, especially with our underclassmen, we did have a lot of trouble with [being mentally strong] and we talk through it at every meet,” Friedman said. “If somebody falls on beam, you cannot let that go to your next event because that’s just going to ruin everything.”

Schaumburg took the team title with a score of 147.400 while Propsect and New Trier rounded out the Top 3.

Although the Vikings didn’t advance as a team, Citlali Cuevas moved on to the state championships in two individual events – vault and floor – and will also compete in the all-around competition.

Cuevas won the vault competition and took 3rd place in floor exercise. In the all-around competition, Cuevas came in 4th place and finished with a score of 36.875.

“I would like to have made it in all events,” Cuevas said. “But my goal was to compete in all events at state, and I never really specified which ones so I at least made it and I’m happy about that.”

Like her team, the Niles North senior struggled on beam. Friedman had changed Cuevas’ routine shortly before the competition and although Cuevas didn’t fall, she finished with her lowest score in the four events.

But Cuevas rallied to garner an invitation to the state championships in floor; even after stepping out of bounds shortly into her routine.

“She pulled it together and nailed everything else in her routine. That was probably the only deduction was right there,” Friedman said. “That is one of the ways that she is a true leader.”

The state championships will be held next Friday and Saturday at Palatine High School.

“It’s really special that I was able to be part of a team that was able to make history at this school,” Cuevas said. “I’m sure there will be better teams out there in the future, but to be that first team is something big.”

Individual Scores:

Floor: Citlali Cuevas – 9.400, Jessica Neuhaus – 8.600, Deborah Steinberg – 8.525, Madeline Neuhaus – 8.450

Vault: Citlali Cuevas – 9.650, Deborah Steinberg – 9.050, Elana Rusnak – 8.575

Beam: Citlali Cuevas – 8.875, Deborah Steinberg – 8.750, Madeline Neuhaus – 8.125

Uneven Bars: Citlali Cuevas – 8.950, Jessica Neuhaus – 8.050, Deborah Steinberg -   7.625

All-Around: Citlali Cuevas – 36.875, Deborah Steinberg – 33.950