Patriots Take Fourth at State Gymnastics Meet

A fourth-place team finish by and an individual medal by in the State Gymnastics Meet on Saturday were overshadowed by the career honors bestowed on Coach Judy Harwood and senior Caitlin Pagano.

Harwood, who led the Patriots to five state titles in the last decade, was inducted into the Illinois High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame as part of the State Meet festivities at Palatine High School.

Pagano, of Buffalo Grove, was feted as the senior Gymnast of the Year by the Illinois High School Association before Saturday’s finals began.

Stevenson came into the competition with the second-highest sectional score (148.925) but fell to fourth. Pagano was battling flu symptoms. Defending balance beam state champion tore an abdominal muscle in Friday’s preliminary round and did not compete in Saturday’s finals.

Carmel took the team title for the second year in a row with 149.25 points, followed by Lake Forest (148.45), Schaumburg (147.8), Stevenson (146.95), Hinsdale Central (145.675), Fremd (145.65), Glenbard West (144.65) and Prairie Ridge (143.5).

Stevenson’s team of Trebilco, Pagano, Castriano, Theresa Wojton, Becca Feltman-Frank and Carlie Dobkin competed as a squad in all four events — vault, uneven parallel bars, balance beam and floor exercise — during Friday’s preliminary rounds. The Patriots finished with a 146.7 score.

With the top 10 finishers in each event advancing to Saturday’s finals, any improvement in preliminary round scores increased the team’s total. Trebilco moved into the balance beam finals and Castriano was set to compete in vault. She was in fourth place, but her injury kept her out of competition. 

Trebilco’s 9.175 opening score on the balance beam left her in eighth place, but she hit a 9.425 in her final routine to earn a fourth-place medal. Her effort helped Stevenson maintain fourth place.

“I did it one skill at a time. I made sure I hit every step,” Trebilco said as she described her concentration staying on a 4½-inch-wide elevated beam. “It felt really good (standing on the victory platform).”

Wojton was eighth in the all around competition scoring 37.125 points in the four events with Castriano 11^th (37.025) and Pagano 28^th (35.775). 

Pagano’s award is based not only on gymnastics excellence, but performance in the classroom as well. 

“You have to have a high GPA and show leadership in school,” said Harwood. Pagano, who has a 3.45 grade-point average, was chosen by a vote of coaches in Illinois.

This season almost never happened for Pagano. She broke her elbow a year ago and needed two surgeries to repair it. 

“Her first day back from surgery was the first day of the season,” Harwood said. 

Pagano jumped, tumbled, swung and balanced herself through the campaign, earning medals along the way by training as best she could through her injuries. 

“I kept my legs in shape. I did everything I could without using my arms,” Pagano said. 

Pagano plans to attend the University of Iowa or Michigan State and hopes to be a gymnast for the Hawkeyes or Spartans. 

“I’m going to walk on,” Pagano said. “I missed the recruiting season because of my injuries.” 

Harwood, who became the Patriots' head coach in 1989 after 13 seasons as an assistant elsewhere, was also honored by the coaches of the state in all sports by her selection to the Hall of Fame.

“I was nervous and didn’t want [nominator Fremd Coach Jim Gest] to do it, but he did it anyway,” Harwood said. “I was nervous because all the coaches are voting.”

In addition to coaching the Patriots, Harwood teaches cooking at Community High School in West Chicago.