Saltos, tucks, twists and round-offs are certain to be in abundance Friday and Saturday when the 2014 Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Boys Gymnastics State Finals take place at Hinsdale Central High School.
2004 Olympic Gold Medalist Paul Hamm will call the action for both days of competition.
The 2014 IHSA state final meet marks the 63rd season that a state series will be contested in boys gymnastics and the first year that Hinsdale Central will serve as the host.
Friday’s competition will determine the 2014 individual All-Around state champion and team champion. On Saturday, individual state champions will be crowned in the Floor Exercise, Pommel Horse, Still Rings, Vault, Parallel Bars and Horizontal Bar. Prelims will be conducted Saturday morning to determine the Top 10 competitors in each event who move on to Saturday evening’s finals.
Shown above is David MacDonald of Wheaton Co-op High School
David MacDonald (pictured) was the star of the 2013 meet, as he won individual state crowns in four events (Still Rings, Floor Exercise, Parallel Bars, tied for Pommel Horse) en route to top honors in the All-Around competition, which resulted in Wheaton Co-op’s (Wheaton North and Wheaton Warrenville South) second consecutive team state title. MacDonald returns for his senior season in 2014, looking to lead the Tigers to a third consecutive and third overall state championship. He posted the top All-Around score in sectional action this year, and was eighth or better in all six events ‑ including tops in Pommel Horse and Parallel Bars.
Despite MacDonald’s performance a year ago, runner-up Conant and third-place Stevenson still found themselves within striking distance, as Conant (155.700) was within six points of Wheaton’s winning score of 161.650. Conant won’t return to the state meet this season, but Lyons (fifth in 2013) and Stevenson (third in 2013) are both back and posted the second- and fourth-best team scores, respectively, in sectional action last week behind the defending champs.
Lyons senior Chris Rediehs placed sixth in the All-Around competition in 2013 as a sophomore and was a Top 3 performer in sectional action this season. Libertyville senior Alex Pong edged Rediehs for the No. 2 All-Around sectional score and will try to challenge MacDonald for the All-Around title, as will Top 5 sectional scorers Nomondalai Jamiyankhuu of Niles West and Max Diab of Glenbard West. Diab, who is a freshman, is the younger brother of Glenbard West 2012 All-Around state champion Alex Diab.
Aside from MacDonald, no other individual event state champions return to the state meet this season, which could open the door for young competitors like Lyons’ Alex Janicki and Downers Grove South’s Dominic Tommasone ‑ a pair of freshmen who posted the state’s best sectional scores this season in the Floor Exercise and Horizontal bars, respectively.
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