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The busy spring sports season had many memorable moments for Wheaton Warrenville South. With summer just starting, now is the perfect time to take a look back at some of the best highlights.
Lucas Cooperman turns in two
all-state showings in gymnastics
Shoulder, back and thumb ailments hampered Wheaton Warrenville South senior and Wheaton co-op gymnast Lucas Cooperman during the sectional meet. Apparently he was fine for the state meet as he had all-state finishes on parallel bars (tied for third, 8.8) and floor exercise (fourth, 9.3).
Cooperman became the program’s first gymnast to achieve three all-state medals on floor. He was fourth the previous two years with 9.2 scores. In 2015, he also was second on parallel bars (9.0) and shared fourth on high bar (8.25). Cooperman was 0.1 points from first on parallel bars at state this year after having the highest preliminary score (9.25).
Wheaton was eighth in the team standings, the eighth year in a row the co-op qualified for state as a team.
Quotable: “The fact that I was able to come back for sectionals and compete at state one more time was huge for me, and to end on a high note,” Cooperman said. “Three years in a row getting fourth on floor, that’s consistency if I’ve ever seen it. Parallel bars I had a chance [to win], but I’ll take third any day.”
Tom Ansiel, Blaze Barista
fight for all-state finishes
Making the state track and field meet is an accomplishment, making the field event finals is another step up, and winning a state medal is the ultimate achievement. Wheaton Warrenville South senior Blaze Barista and junior Tom Ansiel earned their first all-state track and field medals on pure desire.
Barista was ninth in triple jump (45 feet, 2.5 inches) and Ansiel was ninth in pole vault (14-9) after showing remarkable resilience just to reach the finals on May 28. Barista sprained his right ankle during warmups in the prelims May 27 while a hip injury hampered Ansiel leading up to state. Ansiel didn’t do any practice vaults and cleared 14-3 in his only prelim attempt to make the finals.
After setting a school record with a 46-10.25 in the sectionals, Barista battled through the ankle injury to earn the 12th and final spot in the state finals with a 44-11.75.
Quotable: “I didn’t touch a pole until I got down here. I didn’t even take a full run-through, just hopped on a pole and hoped for the best,” Ansiel said. “I owe everything to God.”
Quotable: “I never would have thought I’d be here,” Barista said. “I taped [my ankle for finals] a lot. Between my [preliminary] jumps I kind of just had to man up, keep it loose, try not to think about it.”
Julianna Rylko racks up wins
at state badminton meet
Julianna Rylko was competing in her first badminton state tournament this spring, but her inexperience hardly showed. The freshman won twice in the main draw and twice in the backdraw to reach the consolation quarterfinals in the singles bracket at state for a top-12 finish. The doubles teams of Emi Hockett and Cassidy Coe and Morgan Gagnon and Hannah Kearney both had 2-2 records as the Tigers tied for 13th place as a team.
Charlie McDonough and Jack Lillig
team up at state tennis
The duo of senior Charlie McDonough and sophomore Jack Lillig went 2-1 in the doubles main draw and 2-1 in the consolation bracket at the state tournament. They won three matches in two sets and advanced to the sixth round of consolation play.