Gordon makes program history, medals at state

At the IHSA girls gymnastics state meet, Becca Gordon deserved a ‘10’ for her spot-on Queen of England royal wave.

Impersonating Queen Elizabeth II, unfortunately, is not an event in gymnastics.

The Highland Park junior and first-year high school gymnast settled for program history instead. Gordon became the first female Giant to earn a state medal in gymnastics when she took fourth with her season-best 9.675 vault in the championship event finals on Saturday, Feb. 22.

Her Yurchenko layout was seriously powerful, seriously sharp. But many witnesses at Palatine High School’s main gym also got to see Gordon’s fun side 10 minutes before her first of two launches off the vault.

Standing in the area where vault finalists prepare to perform, a smiling Gordon eyed teammates and friends sitting in an upper level of the bleachers, raised her right arm and then twisted her right hand slowly and oh-so elegantly.

You couldn’t help but wonder, “Is Becca Gordon’s second home Buckingham Palace?”

Gordon’s magnificent result at the state meet supplanted Wendy Cohen’s sixth-place showing (on the uneven bars) at the end of the 1981-82 season as the top state-meet finish in program history.

“What do I like about Becca, the gymnast?” a proud, thrilled Highland Park coach Anthony Kopp said shortly after Gordon’s second vault. “Everything, everything. Her mental approach is one of her strengths, and she’s extremely positive, always. You watch her compete, and it’s easy to see her natural talent. But she’s that rare talented high school athlete who also works hard.

“When an athlete has that kind of combination,” the coach added, “it’s dangerous.”

And usually leads to success. Gordon had qualified for state on vault with a first-place 9.65 at the Mundelein Sectional on Feb. 13. She had also advanced with a fifth-place effort of 9.275 on floor exercise; Gordon finished 21st on floor (9.225) at state in the preliminaries session on Friday, Feb. 21.

“Exciting,” the humble Gordon — a year-round club gymnast in her freshman and sophomore years and a competitor in the sport since age 8 — said of achieving a first in Giants girls gymnastics history. “It’s been fun, being here and competing at the state meet.”

Gordon has a pair of older brothers and one younger brother.

“That helps, having grown up in a family like that,” Kopp surmised. “I’m guessing part of her drive to succeed comes from being around competitive siblings. But Becca, what an athlete, what a teammate. We’re pleased she’s here at the state meet, doing so well while representing her school.”

Lake Zurich junior Kayla Bailey and Carmel Catholic junior Lyndsey Basara ended up as co-winners on vault, with each recording a 9.725 ahead of bronze medalist and Stevenson senior Emily Weinstein’s 9.7.

Gordon edged Lake Forest junior Kristin Fisch, freshman Gabriella Riley of team champion Prairie Ridge and Carmel Catholic senior Isabella Kropiwiec for fourth place. All three shared fifth place, with 9.6s.

Months before the start of the 2019-20 season, Kopp had heard Gordon would come out for HPHS gymnastics. What was Kopp's thoughts when she arrived for the Giants’ first practice?

“I thought, ‘OK, this is great,’ ” Kopp recalled.

Gordon did not just hit routine after routine at both minor and major meets this winter. She also was a hit with her teammates. At every practice. At every meet.

“Becca was such a great teammate, all season long,” Kopp said. “To seniors, to freshmen, to … everyone. She was a friend with everyone in the program, close with everyone."

Gordon wins sectional vault title, qualifies for state

Poise under pressure is a hard commodity to come by, but Highland Park junior Becca Gordon had the perfect plan heading into arguably Illinois' toughest gymnastics sectional meet this year.

“I like to think of it as just another meet, so there’s less pressure,” Gordon said. “I just tried to have fun, do my best, and I think it worked out pretty well.”

Gordon’s performance on the vault in the Mundelein sectional on Thursday, Feb. 13, worked out particularly well. She tied for first in the event with Carmel’s Isabella Kropiwiec, and her score of 9.65 was the third highest score recorded across all four Illinois sectional meets. In a sectional with heavyweights like Glenbrook South, New Trier and Carmel, Gordon was able to overcome the added pressure to share the top of the podium for that event.

“My favorite event is vault, so that just added to it,” Gordon said.

Gordon also earned state advancement in the floor exercise by finishing fifth with 9.275 points. The lone sectional competitior for the Giants, Gordon advanced to sectionals by finishing second all-around and winning the floor and vault events at the Libertyville regional last week. Add in that this is Gordon's first season in high school gymnastics, and that makes her sectionals performance all the more impressive.

“She’s very down to earth and even-keeled, sort of your classic (gymnast) who doesn’t get too up and doesn’t get too down,” Highland Park coach Anthony Kopp said. “She has that great mindset that you want in an athlete. It’s rare to find it in a high school athlete and she’s always had it, it isn’t anything we taught her.”

Gordon also finished 16th at sectionals on the balance beam with 8.65 points.

The IHSA state meet will be held Feb. 21 and Feb. 22 at Palatine High School.

Girls Gymnastics: Gordon places second all-around in CSL North meet

Every team faces adversity at some point in the season. How teams deal with adversity is what matters.

Highland Park overcame a lackluster performance on the uneven bars to score 122.75 points and finish fifth in the CSL North meet on Friday, Jan. 31, at Niles North High School. Individually, Giants junior Becca Gordon finished second all-around in conference despite a low score on the bars. She won the vault and floor exercises, earning an all-around score of 35.1.

Giants head coach Anthony Kopp said Gordon was crucial in getting the team to refocus on its final two events after the bars.

“She’s always so positive, she’s such a positive athlete that really carried over to all the other girls,” Kopp said. “They certainly were able to feed off of her there and be like ‘Okay, if Becca is going to be positive and turn it on here, so can we.’ She was great with that.”

The evening started with the vault, and Gordon won that event by .025 of a point over Vernon Hills’ Becca Tran. Rachel Weber and Lauren Margolick finished 12th and 14th in the vault, respectively. Kopp believes it was the Giants’ highest team score on vault all season.

Then came the struggles with the uneven bars. Highland Park sat in last place after the opening two events, and because six teams were participating, the Giants had to wait almost an hour to compete again. It’s what makes the conference meet so challenging for the gymnasts.

“One of the big things is timing just because it is a little bit of a longer meet,” Kopp said. “We do two events at a time. Our time in between bars and beam was so long.”

That long pause between exercises could have been a disaster for Highland Park, but Kopp believes the break helped the Giants, as the girls were able to calm down and concentrate. He had a simple message for his squad after the bars.

“We just talked with them about moving on and how you can only focus on stuff that you can control,” Kopp said. “What we could control is having a great beam and a great floor and looking forward to those things. That was our process with that good break and heading into beam.”

Sure enough, Highland Park rebounded. Gordon finished seventh in the balance beam, and Weber and Rachel Bringas ranked in the top 16.

Gordon then scored a 9.25 in the floor exercise to earn her second conference first-place medal and third medal overall. Weber’s 7.975 on the floor was good for 14th.

Considering the Giants were without senior captain Ali Rosenberg, who suffered an injury earlier in the week, Kopp is pleased with his team’s results. Most importantly, he’s thrilled with how his team responded with its back against the wall.

“I was very proud of them for the fact that they could put bars behind them and have a great beam and a great floor,” Kopp said. “In all of sports and life, it’s a difficult thing to do, when something doesn’t go your way, to turn the page behind you and move on. That was my proudest moment for them, just seeing them really bounce back from that.”

Weber placed 13th all-around with a score of 30.775. Margolick’s 28.2 points put her 18th all-around.

The Giants will next prepare for the IHSA regional meet in Libertyville on Feb. 5.

10 Questions with Becca Gordon, HP Girls Gymnastics

Gordon is a junior on the Highland Park girls gymnastics team.

How did you get started with gymnastics?

I started at a very young age. My mom signed me up for classes, she put me in a gymnastics gym when I was little because I was jumping around the house.

What’s your favorite part of gymnastics?

I really liked doing floor and I really like tumbling.

What’s the most challenging part of gymnastics?

Definitely trying new skills, and my least favorite event is beam because you’re very high up on a little piece of wood.

What’s the best coaching advice you’ve ever gotten?

It’s better to try new things. I really think that’s true because you’ll never know if you love something or not if you don’t try.

Do you have any pre-game rituals or superstitions?

Before most meets I have this mug that one of my big sisters gave to me. I use it before every single meet.

If you could play another sport besides gymnastics, what would it be?

I’d probably want to do competitive cheer because it seems like it has a lot of energy, and it’s really fun.

What’s your favorite place to eat?

I’d have to say Noodles and Company.

Who is your favorite athlete?

Simone Biles because she’s so cool and she’s invented so many skills.

If you won the lottery, what’s the first thing you would buy?

A car. I want a very new car to drive around in.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?

I’d go to New York because I’ve always wanted to visit there.

Interview by Sports Editor Nick Frazier

Girls Gymnastics: Giants’ experience, leadership to prove crucial

The goal of any high school sports program is to finish stronger than it started.

That’s exactly what Highland Park did last year under head coach Anthony Kopp. The Giants earned their highest team score against Deerfield in the final meet of 

the 2018-19 season. The team also finished fourth in the Central Suburban League North division conference meet with 127.875 points.

The hard part now for Kopp and his squad is improving upon last season with this year’s group.

“It was a solid year for us, the girls worked extremely hard and got better as the year went on,” Kopp said. “Last year, we had a lot of juniors and a couple of good seniors that helped us out. We’re certainly looking to build upon the success of last year.”

Experience in the gym should provide a big boost for the Giants, as the team has four seniors who have been competing with Highland 

Park High School gymnastics since their freshman year. Rachel Bringas, Ali Rosenberg, Zoe 

White and Maria Lubell all bring veteran leadership to a team aiming to improve.

Kopp knows that quartet of seniors gives the Giants a decent advantage over their competition.

“With high school sports, it’s all about leadership and having a strong senior group,” Kopp said. “It’s been cool to watch them grow and take over the leadership roles. We’re certainly excited to have them for their 

last year and hope that they do the best possible and just have a great senior year.”

Last season, the Giants finished fourth in the regional round, but the return of sophomore Rachel Weber and junior Becca Gordon give Highland Park a good shot at extending its season. Weber performed well at the Carmel sectional, and while this will be Gordon’s first year with the Giants program, as she competed at just the club level previously.

Those two, along with the four seniors, will likely be the top scorers for HPHS this winter.

“That’s our solid group, and then we have a few more who are kind of role players,” Kopp said. “Hopefully we can get them to step up too.”

The CSL North division is now wide open, as 2018-19 division champ Glenbrook North moved to the CSL South. In order for the Giants to leapfrog Deerfield and Vernon Hills in the conference, Kopp says the team must prioritize the little things in order to make a big splash.

“We certainly have to get better at crafting our skills and having clean routines and then adding stuff as the year goes,” Kopp said. “It’s kind of a short year, so we just hope to see that we’re finishing strong and by early 

January have everything in that we want in and make sure that everything is looking sharp at that time.”