The H-F girls gymnastic season started on Feb. 11 after originally having tryouts in November and later being put on hold with practices starting in January. During the time in between the postponement and the start of the season, there was a lot of uncertainty regarding whether or not the season would be resumed and if it did, what would the season ultimately look like?

Heading into the season, the Vikings main goals consisted of looking forward to learning and competing new skills as well as striving for personal and team high scores. Week in and week out, the team has attempted to try and improve their overall score during each meet.

Over the past year many things have been uncertain, but the Vikings have been able to overcome many of the obstacles that they have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. On Jan. 15, the IHSA announced the resumption of sports and less than three weeks later the Vikings competed in their first meet against the Sandburg-Andrew-Stagg Cooperative team. 

Due to the strict practice guidelines enforced by the IHSA, there wasn’t a lot of time before the team’s first meet, so the Vikings had to quickly perfect their routines. They came into the gym prepared and ready to compete, but were ultimately defeated by the Sandburg-Andrew-Stagg Cooperative team by a score of 120.65 – 116.25 on Feb. 11.

Gymnastics has been a way for the team to get away from remote learning after all of these months indoors.

“I think the resumption of sports is extremely important for students to have an outlet during this time, and I’m glad my athletes have been able to get that through gymnastics,” Head Girls’s Gymnastics Coach Carrie May said. “It’s great to see them enjoying their time in the gym with their teammates.”

The Vikings second meet came on Feb. 16 against their rival Lincoln-Way East. The team fell just short again and lost by a score of 136.8-121.4.

The Vikings bounced back in a big way in their rematch and dual meet against the Sandburg-Andrew-Stagg Cooperative team on Feb. 24. 

The team’s hard work finally paid off and they came out .2 ahead of the competition and won by a score of 122.35-122.15 against the Sandburg-Andrew-Stagg Cooperative team.

With all the momentum stemming from their previous win, the Vikings faced off against and defeated  Riverside-Brookfield by a score of 124.15-122.2 on Feb. 27.

After back to back wins heading into their senior night and final meet of the season, the Vikings lost a tough one in their rematch against Lincoln-Way East by a score of 137.25-118.50 on March 2.

Even with the short season, the young Vikings team learned a lot of valuable lessons that they can take with them going into next season.

“I hope to be able to look back on the season and see the tremendous growth these athletes were able to accomplish in such a short time,” May said. “I’m really trying to emphasize just how important our time is in the gym – this year more than ever – and I hope to see that all pay off for each individual athlete.”