Darer Advances To Gym Sectional In Four Events

This isn’t the first time Julia Darer has advanced to the Illinois High School Association sectional level in girls gymnastics.

But the Evanston sophomore showed Wednesday night that the best is yet to come --- and that she’s ready to be a prime time performer.

Cast in the difficult role of trying to succeed the program’s GOAT (Greatest Of All-Time), Ella Eovaldi, as the team’s top scorer, Darer rose to the occasion at the Vernon Hills Regional meet by earning automatic sectional berths in four of five categories.

Darer placed in the top 5 on vault (3rd at 9.05), uneven bars (5th at 8.5), floor exercise (5th at 8.65) and also advanced by placing 5th all-around at 33.60 points.

The sophomore standout was the only ETHS competitor who left the meet knowing her season was still alive, as the top 5 finishers in each event always advance. At-large qualifiers for the Lake Forest Sectional next Thursday will be determined after all of the regional meets are conducted this week and scores are finalized.

Evanston’s other leading contender for a sectional spot is junior Elliott Ditchman, whose best regional finish was a 6th on floor exercise at 8.375.

Eovaldi left behind her big shoes to fill when she graduated last spring. Darer made major contributions to a record-setting team season as a capable No. 4 scorer for the squad in most meets, but moved into a game-changing role this season.

And, as ETHS head coach Mike Spevack noted Wednesday, it’s not easy being No. 1.

“It’s not easy having to step into the spotlight when you’ve been, well, I don’t want to say invisible before that,” Spevack said. “But when you’re the last one to go out there in the lineup (the best scorers per team usually compete last in a given event), everyone’s looking at you. The spotlight is on you.

“You can practice your routines in the gym all you want, but until you get out there in front of people --- like tonight --- you don’t actually know what it really feels like. You have to do it when the stands are full. Julia has been our most consistent gymnast all year. She’s taken the (No. 1) job and run with it.

“Julia had good experience last year (qualifying for the sectional on vault, bars and all-around) and this year her level of performance has been lights out. You develop a real level of confidence (for big meets) when you’re consistently getting the skill and scores during the season like she has.”

Darer had already punched a ticket to the sectional in two events when her part in Evanston’s rotation onto the balance beam turned into a nightmare for the Wildkits. Evanson counted a half dozen falls in that difficult event among its five competitors, including Darer, who was driven to tears briefly afterward with a pair of falls that dragged her score down to a 7.4, behind teammates Ditchman (7.45) and Talia Wexler (7.45) and nowhere near the medal stand.

Minutes later, she qualified on floor exercise after shaking off the disappointment.

“Balance beam was rough for us,” admitted Spevack. “It was rough on Julia because I know she cares a lot about how well she does on beam. She could have phoned it in after that --- that’s so easy to do. So what did she do? She came back and crushed it on floor. And Elliott did the same thing. I think that might have been her best score ever on floor.

“What happened to us on beam tonight was unique. I have no explanation. Stuff just happens. Elliott has made some massive improvements on beam this year and I know she really wanted it. She just has to learn from it and take that with her into next year.”

Lake Forest, the top seed, took the team title as expected with a winning total of 137.575 points. Vernon Hills posted a 135.55 to beat out Evanston (128.45) and Libertyville (124.525) for runner-up honors.