LT Sports Recap: Badminton, Gymnastics Teams Send Individuals to State

Freshman Stephanie Lin completed a strong start to her first Lyons Township badminton season with some strong finishes at the state meet.

Lin earned the Lions’ lone berth to state May 11-12 at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston by finishing third in singles at the Thornton Fractional South Sectional May 3.

Lin had a 2-2 record in the 64-player, double-elimination state bracket, winning both of her matches in three games after losing the first game.

“She did a great job for her first trip to state,” LT coach Sue McClenahan said. “Stephanie played really well, but does lack some conditioning needed for a big tournament like the state meet. We’re going to take a break, but Stephanie knows what she needs to do in the offseason and is eager to get to work.”

Lin had a 21-12 singles record for the season. She opened state by rallying for an 11-21, 21-19, 21-13 victory over Downers Grove North junior Amanda Scheenweis, lost to Hinsdale South senior and No. 2 seed Andrea McNally 21-16, 21-12, beat Hersey senior Jen Hall 13-21, 21-19, 21-14 and lost to New Trier junior Audrey Mang 21-14, 19-21, 21-10.

McNally went on to finish among the top eight, and Mang finished among the top 24.

“Being a freshman, I think (Lin) was a little nervous at first but managed to pull off a win in three games for the first round,” McClenahan said.

Top-four sectional finishers in singles and doubles advance to state. Lin beat Oak Park-River Forest senior Ana Spinuzza 21-17, 21-9 for third after losing to sectional runner-up Andriana Johnson of T.F. South 22-20, 21-12 and then winning three matches. LT (9 points) finished fourth.

Sophomores Elizabeth Abbs, who also played singles at sectionals, accompanied Lin at state along with sophomore Paige Matusiak, who played doubles at sectionals with senior Julie Jaskierski. Senior Lauren Gronke, the Lions’ No. 2 singles player, was lost for the end of the season because of injury.

“It’s always tough to lose a member of the team due to injury, but it did give the younger members of our program an opportunity to step up and gain some tournament experience,” McClenahan said. “I think their experience this season has them excited. (State) really opened their eyes in terms of where they are right now and what they are capable of in the years to come.”

The Lions finished fourth at the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet May 3 at York.

Junior Sarah O’Heron was the Lions’ lone conference champion, taking the No. 10 singles title after not receiving one of the four seeds. Junior Megan Roberts was third at No. 7 singles.

O’Heron defeated Hinsdale Central’s Julia Huang, the No. 2 seed, 21-13, 19-21, 21-12 in the final.

“This was a nice surprise as Sarah had not actually played a lot of singles during the season,” McClenahan said. “She knew her team needed her to fill a role, and she did so gladly. We can always count on Sarah to work hard.”

LT boys gymnastics

The Lyons Township boys gymnastics team sent four athletes to the individual state meet May 12 at Lincoln-Way East, and senior Dan Gallagher and freshman Chris Rediehs nearly reached the individual event finals.

Gymnasts among the top 10 preliminary scores advance to the finals. Gallagher was 11th on pommel horse (8.55), .25 from 10th place, and Rediehs tied for 12th on vault (9.15), just .05 from the finals cut.

Senior Jon Brandt (floor exercise, pommel horse and parallel bars) and sophomore Noah Mennemeier (parallel bars) also were state qualifiers. Rediehs also qualified for state on floor, horse, parallel bars, horizontal bar and all-around, which was held May 11 in conjunction with the team state meet. Rediehs finished 16th in all-around (50.00) as the third highest finishing freshman.

Individuals qualify for state either automatically with a top-five sectional finish on events (top 3 in all-around) or at-large by being among the 25 highest remaining scores (15 for all-around) among the state’s five sectionals. The Lions finished third as a team at the Lincoln-Way East Sectional May 3 with a season-high 138.55 points.

LT finished fourth at the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet April 27 at Glenbard West with 124.95 points and fourth in the final overall standings, a 50-50 combination of dual and conference meet standings.

State meet
May 11-12
Lincoln-Way East High School
LT results
All-around: 16. Chris Rediehs 50.00
Floor exercise: 24. Rediehs 9.2, 43. Jon Brandt 8.5
Pommel horse: 11. Dan Gallagher 8.55, 47. Rediehs 6.65, 50. Brandt 5.4
Vault: 12T. Rediehs 9.15
Parallel bars: 31T. Brandt 8.25, 42T. Rediehs 7.7, 47. Noah Mennemeier 7.05
Horizontal bar: 36. Rediehs 6.85

Lincoln-Way East Sectional
May 3
Top three teams: 1. Lincoln-Way co-op 154.25, 2. Hinsdale Central 147.80, 3. Lyons Township 138.55
LT top-20 finishers (at-large state cuts in parentheses)
All-around (45.45): 3. Rediehs 48.90*, 6. Brandt 44.10
Floor (8.75): 4. Rediehs 9.35*, 8. Brandt 9.0*, 15. Jackson McCoy 8.45
Horse (7.2): 9. Gallagher 7.7*, 11T. Rediehs 7.4*, 13. Brandt 7.35*
Rings (7.3): 11. Rediehs 7.0, 12. Will Gallucci 6.8, 20. Brandt 5.9
Vault (8.75): 3T. Rediehs 9.2*, 13. Brandt 8.7, 14. Gallagher 8.5, 18. Mennemeier 8.2
Parallel bars (7.85): 5T. Mennemeier 8.05*, 7T. Rediehs 8.0*, 9. Brandt 7.95*, 16. Gallagher 7.2
Horizontal bar (7.05): 4. Rediehs 7.95*, 11. David Bielski 5.85, 14. Gallagher 5.35, 15. Brandt 5.2

West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet
April 27 at Glenbard West
Team scores: 1. Downers Grove North 152.25, 2. Glenbard West 151.30, 3. Hinsdale Central 144.15, 4. Lyons Township 124.95, 5. York 115.10
Final overall standings: 1. Downers North, 2. Glenbard West, 3. Hinsdale Central, 4. LT, 5. York
LT top-12 finishers
All-around: 4. Rediehs 49.30, 8. Brandt 41.50
Floor: 4. Rediehs 9.2, 9. Brandt 8.8
Horse: 8. Rediehs 7.6
Rings: 7. Rediehs 7.4
Vault: 7. Rediehs 8.9, 11. Brandt 8.65
Parallel bars: 5. Rediehs 8.35, 8. Brandt 7.6
Horizontal bar: 5. Rediehs 7.85

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