Gymnastics: Adding a Tsuk puts Buffalo Grove’s Mann in contention

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Updated: March 3, 2012 8:12AM

Buffalo Grove junior Jordan Mann’s favorite event used to be floor.

No more.

Now, Mann’s best event is the vault where her Tsuk is leading to higher scores and perhaps a trip deep into the IHSA postseason. She first landed her Tsuk in competition at the Prospect Invitational two weeks ago and scored a personal best 9.4. She landed her Tsuk again at Friday’s Mid-Suburban Conference Tournament. This time, she scored an 8.95.

“That was her highlight,” coach Stephanie Schrader said. “It was a good performance and a good landing.”

Added Mann: “I was nervous and could have done a few things better, but I landed it which is I really wanted to accomplish.”

As a team, the Bison finished seventh in the 12-team field.

Adding a Tsuk does not happen overnight. In fact, Mann spent more than a year working on it in practice so she could attempt it in competition.

Actually, Mann has been on an intense learning curve since she arrived at Buffalo Grove as a freshman.

“As soon as I started in (high school), I started to get into the groove of long practices and working on the skills that I needed to accomplish,” she said. “I really (enjoyed) competing.”

Since she did not have a background in club gymnastics, she had to work diligently to catch up with some of her more experienced competitors.

“It’s pretty impressive how she’s worked to get to this level,” Schrader said.

During her sophomore year, Mann really began to take to the vault but grew tired of her routine. Because of its limited degree of difficulty, she could perform perfectly and not score better than 8.6. She started to chafe at her routine and convinced the coaches she was ready to begin working on a new skill.

“I liked the vault but it was getting boring to do the same vaults over and over again,” she said. “I wanted some variety and a vault where I could venture out and potentially score into the 9s. I’m more comfortable with the landing every day. I’m very confident that I can do this. At (regionals) and sectionals, I want to stick my landing and try to get a high enough score to go to state.”

Middle of the pack: BG’s seventh-place finish was about what Schrader expected.

“There is kind of a big jump from seventh to sixth place,” she said. “We stayed ahead of the teams we had beaten all year, which was a goal coming in.”

Senior Katie Strack struggled in a few of her events but still led the Bison in the all-around.

“I admire the way she goes for tricks, and she’s taught me some new things,” Mann said.

Sophomore Erika Ray introduced a new skill on bars that will pay dividends into the future. Schrader said senior Stef Arapidis had a solid meet.

The team will compete in the Fremd Regional on Thursday night (6:30 p.m.).