Lyons Township High School senior Will Taylor competed at his fourth boys gymnastics state meet Saturday and had multiple top-10 individual finishes, just like older brother Ben for the 2021 state championship team.
When Taylor was named the Illinois High School Gymnastics Coaches Association Senior Gymnast of the Year, his first thoughts were about receiving the honor just like Ben.
“After Ben got it too [in 2021], it’s really awesome and something I’ll keep in my room for a while hopefully,” Will Taylor said. “I was the last name called [among the nominees], which was a little scary. I was honestly pretty nervous. I was worried because there were two really great gymnasts right next to me and those guys deserve it just as much. I’m real fortunate to have gotten the award.”
Taylor then showed his true value to the Lions by helping them finish fourth with 144.85 points at Hoffman Estates. This was the first state meet conducted by the IHSGCA after the IHSA voted last June to no longer sanction the sport.
The Lions won the LT Sectional, May 2, with the state’s fourth-highest score (145.00). They hoped for their fourth straight top-three trophy after taking second in 2023 (156.20) and third in 2022.
During the regular season, they were the No. 2-ranked team with a season-high 153.55 and two other 153s, but top-scoring senior all-arounder Matt Adler missed sectionals and state because he was competing at USA Gymnastics club nationals in Florida.
LTHS finished behind Wheaton Co-op (163.00), Evanston (150.70) and Glenbard West (149.40) on Saturday. Downers Grove North (142.85) was fifth.
“We knew it would be a hard fight to get a trophy. We knew we’d have to have a very good meet,” LTHS coach Sam Zeman said.
“We had kind of a rough meet but Will came through. The guys did pretty well. We had some rough spots on [pommel] horse and a few other things but overall we had a good season and we’re here.”
Taylor finished seventh in all-around (51.85) after a personal-best 52.45 to win sectionals. At state, Taylor also tied for sixth on still rings (8.5), was ninth on floor exercise (9.05) and 10th on high bar (8.5), tied for 10th on parallel bars (8.95) and was 11th on horse (8.45).
In 2021, Ben Taylor had six top-10 state finishes, including second in all-around, floor and parallel bars.
“That was the first thing [Will] said when he found out [about the award]: ‘I’m going to be on the [traveling] trophy with my brother,’” Zeman said.
“Will’s improvement, his leadership, keeping the team together the way he has, so valuable to the whole team. I’m going to miss him.”
The Lions opened Saturday on vault, one of Taylor’s best events where he won sectionals (9.2) along with rings (8.6). Only given one vault, Taylor did not land cleanly Saturday and scored 8.4 (tied for 27th). He responded on the other events with five strong performances that outscored his sectional totals by .20.
“I was pretty mad at myself but I ended up having a really great meet otherwise,” Taylor said.
“I was pretty upset when I found out we got fourth but Glenbard West is a great team, Evanston, Wheaton is unstoppable. Even if we had the greatest meet of the year, [third] would have been so close. I’m still proud of my guys.”
Sophomore Ryan Renderman tied for 11th on floor (9.0), sophomore TJ Carr tied for 13th on rings (8.15) and freshman Luca Depa tied for 15th in all-around (45.85) and high bar (7.8). Also part of the state lineup were seniors Ryan Evans and Nick Peterson, junior Drake Levreau, all individual state qualifiers, and juniors Sean McCabe and Jack Michaelson.
Badminton
LTHS juniors Mia Graziano and Simone Brown were 1-2 in doubles at the state badminton tournament Friday. After winning their opener, the Lions (23-21) lost 21-17, 13-21, 21-19. Graziano was 1-2 in doubles at the 2023 state tournament with then-senior Sofia Garcia.
Water polo
The Lyons Township boys and girls water polo teams qualified for the state quarterfinals at Stevenson by winning their respective LT Sectionals Saturday. The LTHS boys (24-3) play New Trier (24-5-1) at 4:30 p.m. Thursday. The Lions have lost to the Trevians 5-4 in overtime April 27 and 11-3 March 23.
The LTHS girls (25-5) face West Suburban Conference Silver rival York (23-7) at 7 p.m. Friday. The Lions have beaten the Dukes 7-6 April 4 and lost 12-6 March 23. In their sectional finals, the LTHS boys beat Brother Rice 16-5 after beating the Crusaders 18-3, March 14.
The LTHS girls defeated Mother McAuley 13-9. The Lions, who lost to McAuley in the 2023 sectional final, won all four meetings this season. At the Fenwick Sectional semifinals Friday, the No. 5 Riverside Brookfield girls (4-15) lost to No. 1 York 15-5.
Senior Priscilla Gil had three goals. Juniors Bella Gonzalez and Sophia Ivan also scored.
“They had their heart in it the whole time. It’s obviously a tough matchup but they went in with really good attitudes,” RBHS coach Amy Frey said. “The season was amazing. They worked really hard. We’re a smaller team but we fought like a big one. We have improved so much.”
Gil, a four-year varsity player with a team-high 56 goals, had a single-game best 11 in the 19-8 quarterfinal victory over No. 4 Elk Grove. Gil will play at Penn State Behrend.
“Overall I think that the team really improved together as a family,” Gil said. “Seeing this team change and grow has really been interesting. High school water polo in general has made me want to play in college.”
Melvin Tate contributed to this report.