Freshman is Lemont's 1st State-bound Gymnast in 15 Years

LEMONT, IL - A Lemont High School freshman became the school's first gymnast to reach the state finals in more than a decade.

Gabrielle Salomon posted a score of 9.3500 to place third in the vault and a score of 9.2000 to tie for fourth in the floor exercise at the IHSA Oswego Sectional last weekend, according to a news release from the school. Her finishes guaranteed her a spot in the state finals since the top five sectional finishers in every individual event advance automatically.

In the all-around category, her 35.9750 final score earned her an at-large berth in state. The top 12 remaining scorers outside of the top five also advance to state.

Salomon is the first Lemont gymnastics state qualifier since Eileen Strube pulled off the feat in 2002. With a strong finish at the state finals this weekend, she hopes to join Rena Fox as the program's only athletes to medal at the state finals. Fox was the state runner-up in the all-around and placed third in the uneven parallel bars event in 1998.

The 2017 IHSA Gymnastics State Finals will be contested on Friday, Feb. 17 and Saturday, Feb. 18 at Palatine High School. Salomon will participate in vault, floor exercise and all-around events.

Photo courtesy of Lemont High School