By Natalie Delcorps

For the first time in five years, a gymnast from Batavia High School qualified for state. This year, junior Megan McGee made the IHSA State Gymnastics meet. Last Tuesday at Glenbard North, McGee placed fourth in Sectionals. According to the rules, the top five qualify for the state competition.

McGee says, “To condition, I go to the gym every day and focus on my events and improve what the judges have given me feedback on. You get a score sheet back so you know what you’re marked off for.” At sectionals, McGee’s activity was all-around. This means that at sectionals, she was competing in four events: uneven bars, beam, floor and vault. Placing in sectionals in an event like this takes hard work and an all-around ability.

“Most people do specialized rounds,” McGee said. “Every team has at least two girls who do all-arounds. My score that qualified me for state on floor was a 9.65 and for vault it was a 9.425. ”

“At sectionals, I had a really good warm up and kept that mentality and I did a lot better than I was expecting. My coaches and teammates have inspired me and helped me throughout this process. My team all came to the meet last Tuesday to cheer me on,” McGee said.

McGee has been doing gymnastics for 13 years now, since she was 4. “I definitely want to try to get into state again. If so, state finals. I’m not sure yet if I want to continue after high school, but I want to see if I want to do it in college.”

February 20th is the big day when state takes place at Palatine High School.

“This experience is pretty insane. I’ve never made it past sectionals. It’s a big feeling.”