Gymnastics: ‘Gutsy’ effort earns Libertyville’s Dunsing NSC beam title

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Jenna Dunsing of the Wilcats, seen here on the floor exercise in earlier action this season, took first on the balance beam in Friday's NSC Meet at Ultimate. | Joel Lerner~Sun-Times Media

Updated: April 2, 2012 1:55AM

It’s hard to exhale while competing on a balance beam.

Ask any gymnast.

Heck, spectators have a tough time doing that while watching a gymnast on beam.

But Libertyville High School junior Jenna Dunsing was able to do that at Friday night’s NSC Meet at Ultimate Gymnastics in Gurnee.

She released a brief gust of relief, atop the log, after successfully executing a back-handspring, back-tuck series.

“I was thinking, at that point, ‘OK, I can relax now,’ ” recalled Dunsing. “I thought that because the difficult part was over.”

The rewarding part, experienced about an hour later: receiving a first-place medal in the event, after scoring a 9.0.

“Jenna is a great talent, and on beam tonight she was clean, consistent … and gutsy,” Wildcats coach John Taylor said, adding Dunsing had been ill the day before and was about 70 percent healthy for the conference meet.

Dunsing, who also placed sixth in the all-around (36.5), paced Libertyville’s fifth-place showing (134.7 points).

Reigning champion Stevenson (144.6) captured the team title but shared the overall NSC championship with runner-up Lake Forest (143.95) because LF had defeated Stevenson in a dual in December.

Taylor’s crew wasn’t at full strength on Friday night. An injured knee sidelined senior Tori Metcalf, and a sore wrist limited senior Lindsay Schweitzer to a watered-down beam routine (8.05, 15th place).

“The game plan, before the injuries, was to try to finish ahead of one or two very good teams (Stevenson and Lake Forest),” Taylor said. “We had to change that plan, trying instead to be as consistent as possible.”

No need to alter Mariah Lee’s bars routine. The Libertyville sophomore tied for runner-up honors in the event with a 9.45.

That mark highlighted her ninth-place all-around score of 35.775.

Dunsing also collected a fourth-place medal on floor exercise (9.3), and sophomore Rachael Metcalf (fourth place, vault, 9.875) earned the Wildcats’ other top-five medal Friday night.

Metcalf tied for 11th place in the all-around (35.275). Other notable LHS efforts: Lee (9.5, vault, ninth place) and Dunsing (season-high 9.45, vault, 10th-place tie).

Senior Anna King was told earlier in the week, by Taylor, she’d be counted on to lift Libertyville’s shorthanded squad.

“We had her learning new skills during the week,” Taylor said early in the meet. “She’s a strong competitor, works hard, always does her best. I don’t think she realizes how important she is to our team tonight.

“But I’ll be sure to point that out to her later on.”

Huge difference: Dunsing notched the only ‘9’ on beam at Friday’s meet, which was quite odd considering two of the state’s top teams, Stevenson and Lake Forest, also competed. At last year’s NSC Meet, hosted by Vernon Hills, 12 gymnasts scored a 9.05 or higher in the event.

Stevenson’s Theresa Wojton topped the field with a 9.6.

Quote-worthy: “She was so solid … did amazing. She showed how good she can be.” — Schweitzer, after Dunsing’s 9.0 beam routine on Friday night.

Classy: Schweitzer was Libertyville’s NSC Sportsmanship Award honoree. She was recognized after Friday’s NSC Meet in Gurnee.

A-one Alison: Vernon Hills first-year coach Alison Gildemeister was named NSC Coach of the Year at Friday’s meet.

“I voted for you,” Taylor said to Gildemeister after the announcement.

“I voted for you,” Gildemeister said to Taylor.

Flashback: Libertyville finished third (143.325) at last year’s conference meet. Leah Herchenbach, a 2011 LHS graduate, placed fifth in the all-around (37.1); Dunsing tied for third on beam (9.45).

On the schedule: Libertyville vies for sectional berths at the New Trier Regional on Friday evening. Other schools in the field, in addition to  NT: Evanston, Niles West, North Shore Country Day and Northside Prep.