Girls Gymnastics: Kelsy Kurfirst leads Lyons

Updated: February 6, 2012 10:14PM

Lyons freshman Kelsy Kurfirst wasn’t at the Hinsdale Central sectional last year when the Lions posted an impressive 144.775 but finished 0.2 points behind Prairie Ridge co-op for the final at-large qualifier to the state finals.

It was a gut-wrenching blow for Lyons, which fell just short of its fifth consecutive trip to Palatine.

Kurfirst made sure she was at the Hinsdale Central sectional on Monday night, as she led Lyons back to Palatine. Kurfirst won bars (9.55), floor (9.575) and tied Hinsdale Central’s Erin Morgan for first place on vault (9.725) while also capturing the all-around crown with a 37.9. Her effort helped Lyons finish comfortably ahead of runner-up Hinsdale Central’s 138.950 as well as the rest of the six-team field.

“I had heard about last year and how bad that felt so it just made our team want it that much more,” Kurfirst said. “I think we did great tonight. We did what we could, we did our jobs and it definitely made up for a portion of last year, at least.”

Lyons junior Maren Craig added a 35.575 in the all-around while freshman Kelly Ryser had an 8.9 on beam and Kalen Iffert contributed a 9.125 on floor.

“It’s really a committed group of kids who have worked very hard,” Lyons coach Kari Karubas said. “We had a very lucky sectional so the advantage was in our favor, but I was very happy with their performance. They’re getting a little better every meet.”

Andrew standout all-around Jamie Valla, who was expected to battle Kurfirst for the all-around title did not compete to injury. Morgan took second in the all-around with a 37.125.

Plainfield North senior Kori Boe won the beam with a 9.375.

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.