THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 2008
Glenbrook's Deutsch Lands State Crown
By BOBBY CHILVER
Journal Sports
The Journal-area has a new state champion this spring as Glenbrook South's Steve Deutsch beat out the rest of the pack and took first place in the boys gymnastics state final all-around.
The senior racked up a total score of 56.600 to outlast the competition and take the weekend's big prize. Deutsch placed in the top ten of all six events Saturday, including a first place at the pommel horse with a 9.5 He was also third at the parallel bars (9.4) sixth at the floor (9.5) and vault (9.15), seventh at the horizontal bar (9.1) and eighth at still rings (8.9).
Deutsch entered the state competition as the top-ranked all-around competitor but knew the competition would be tough.
"We knew he was in a good position to fight for it," coach Steve Gale said. "He hit very clean. Steve's the most impressive guy I've coached,"
In the team competition on Friday, Deutsch also helped propel his team to fourth place overall with a 156.100.
"We were very pleased," Gale said. "The kids worked very hard for it. It's a tribute to their effort."
York won the team title with a 163.700 with Lincoln-Way East in second (161.600) and Palatine in third (156.250).
Palatine's Matt Eckardt led the Pirates and finished off an outstanding career with a fourth place in Saturday's all-around, finishing with 54.950.
That included third place at the vault (9.4) and parallel bars (9.4), fourth at the horizontal bar (9.2), 13th at the pommel horse (8.6) 14th at the floor exercise (8.75) and 19th at the still rings (8.7). Eckardt had actually posted the highest floor exercise score in the preliminaries, a 9.7, but faulted in the finals.
Prospect's Chris Mattes was 25th in the all-around with a 49.7 but earned a big third place performance at the pommel horse, scoring a 9.2.
Other area gymnasts advancing to Saturday evening's finals were Glenbrook South's Adam Klosowiak and Niles West's Andy Foerch, who tied for 12th at floor (9.25), Palatine's Luke Schuster, seventh at the parallel bars (8.95), and Conant's Jonathan Synder, 10th at the horizontal bar (8.65).