SATURDAY JANUARY 16 | SUNDAY JANUARY 17 2016 |
THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND
SPORTS
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HEAR THE ROHRER Sophomore making plenty of noise as a first-year gymnast for New Trier BY BILL MCLEAN, SPORTS@NORTHSHOREWEEKEND.COM
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mma Jane Rohrer, wearing a New Trier leotard and an infectious smile, got zero points for shimmying here and wiggling there after one of her dismounts at a recent gymnastics meet. Judges probably missed the sophomore’s impromptu moves. Their attention was elsewhere, scribbling here and scratching there on their score sheets, heads buried in their collective task at hand: rate Rohrer’s gymnastics moves. Rohrer’s teammates and coaches did not miss her postroutine dance. “She made all of us laugh,” Trevians coach Jennifer Pistorius says. “Emma Jane is fun to watch. She’s also fun, silly. I love everything about Emma Jane. She’s not just an amazing gymnast; she’s also such a kind teammate.” It is all still so new for Rohrer, throwing and hitting gymnastics routines for her school. The Level 10 gymnast competed in only Level 10 meets as a freshman last winter. One of her good friends, New Trier senior Peyton Burns, did not come out for prep gymnastics until her sophomore year. Another one of her good friends, Loyola Academy senior Claire Sullivan, did not come out for prep gymnastics until her sophomore year. All three honed their gym games under Wilmette Gymnastics club coaches. “I absolutely love it,” Rohrer says of high school gymnastics. “The bonds are stronger than they are in club gymnastics. Everybody around me is close, so close. It’s like a family when we’re all together at meets and during practices. High school gymnastics … it’s more than scores and medals.” Judges determined scores, FANCY FLIGHT: Emma Jane Rohrer of the Trevians completes an aerial series on the balance beam and gymnasts received medals at the Chester Jones Invitational at Evanston. She was the meet’s top all-arounder. PHOTOGRAPHY at the Chester Jones Invita- BY JOEL LERNER.
tional at Evanston Township High School on Jan. 8. Rohrer exited the cramped gym with four prizes, three of the gold variety. She finished first in the all-around (36.775), first on vault (9.5) and first on the uneven bars (8.8) for runner-up New Trier (137.175, behind champion Maine South’s 140.4point showing). She settled for silver on floor exercise (9.325) but could not have been happier for the champion, senior Ana Dabrowski (9.4), in the event. Dabrowski, seventh in the all-around (33.75), is a Trevian. Or one of Rohrer’s brandnew “big sisters.” The addition of Rohrer, talented and vibrant, to the New Trier gymnastics program has tempered, somewhat, the harsh news the program had to accept after New Trier’s season opener on Dec. 3. Burns suffered a broken left heel during the warm-up session at Maine East. Trevians freshman Zoey Spangler incurred a serious knee injury during the meet. Both are likely season-ending injuries. Pistorius, also a Wilmette Gymnastics club coach, is hopeful Burns will recover enough to at least attempt a watered-down bars routine at a regional meet next month. “We walked out of that school, together, on crutches,” Burns, half-smiling, half-wincing, recalls. Burns and Rohrer and Sullivan, a Rambler from Wilmette, rode in a car, together, for miles and miles as Wilmette Gymnastics cohorts during their club days. Total miles: too many to tabulate. They ate dinners together. Total bites: too many to tabulate. “I’ve known [Rohrer] since she was a first-grader,” Burns says. “I’ve always considered her to be like a baby sister.” The bib comes off at gymnastics meets. The Gerber jar gets
tightened, shoved out of sight. Rohrer is a serious gymnast, capable of nailing judge-wowing and crowd-pleasing routines. Younger gymnasts want to do what she does when they’re older, taller. Peers wish they could do what she does … today. Rohrer performs her most difficult tricks on bars but scores higher on vault — “My least favorite event,” she says, chuckling — than on any of the other three events. Her 9.5 vault (Tsuk pike) at Evanston last weekend was her second such mark in the event this winter. “Emma Jane makes everything look really easy,” Spangler says. Rohrer swatted shots for the New Trier freshman badminton team last spring. A smash on the courts, a smash atop the mats. Rohrer, Rohrer. The fan of racket sports prefers badminton to tennis. “A tennis racket,” she says, “is clunky compared to a badminton racket. Clearing … yes, I like clearing in badminton. I like hitting something. Badminton allows me to do that.” She hits in gymnastics, too. Hits her routines. Often. Notable: Seniors Claire Hartman and Lauren Chung, junior Ally Smith and sophomores Caroline Hartman and Ilana Spitz also competed for New Trier at last weekend’s Chester Jones Invitational at Evanston. Trevians senior Taylor Kwok rested her sore back. Loyola Academy The Ramblers’ lone representative at the Evanston Invite last weekend, senior Claire Sullivan, placed fourth on beam (9.3) and tied two others for fifth place on the uneven bars (8.3). She finished 10th on beam at the state meet last winter.