'Hard Work Pays Off' As Downers Grove Wins State Gymnastics Title

DOWNERS GROVE, IL — After more than 15 hours of gymnastics training every week and traveling throughout Illinois for meets, the Downers Grove Girls' Co-Op gymnastics team emerged victorious at the IHSA state final meet last weekend. The meet was held at Palatine High School on Feb. 17 and Feb. 18.

Here's how the co-op team, made up of gymnasts from Downers Grove South and North high schools, fared against other teams with its overall score:

• Downers Grove: 145.575
• Vernon Hills: 144.975
• Geneva: 143.425
• DeKalb: 142.675
• Roselle: 141.925
• Mundelein: 141.35
• Barrington: 139.525
• Arlington Heights: 138.95

Downers Grove's winning overall score came as the team excelled in its vault, floor, uneven parallel bars, and balance beam events, landing in the top four overall for each event. The overall event scores for the Downers Grove Co-Op were:

• Vault: 37.4
• Bars: 35.475
• Beam: 36.025
• Floor: 36.675

Senior Kate Snouffer told Patch she felt confident the team would win the two-day championship meet, but didn't want to jinx them.

"I didn’t want to speak too soon, but I knew there was a chance," Snouffer said. "I knew we would place well, but first place was such an honor to win."

Snouffer explained that she and her teammates put in more than 15 hours of practice each week during a regular season, so the IHSA state final victory brought "a lot of relief and excitement amongst the team."

Snouffer said the co-op team has made it to the state finals each year of her high school career (except when the meet was canceled in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic), but that this year was their best showing.

Along with sophomore Genevieve Herion, Snouffer ranked highly in her individual events. Snouffer competed in all four events and landed seventh on the balance beam with an average score of 9.1.

Herion placed in all four events, emerging third on uneven parallel bars, 10th on vault and floor exercise, and 11th on the balance beam.

Snouffer said the team was proud to see its effort lead them to victory, saying "We knew we had been training so hard for the title and we were so happy and relieved to know that the hard work paid off."