Gymnastics: Feltman-Frank does her part as Stevenson wins NSC Meet

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Stevenson's Ali Castriano, seen here in earlier action this winter, placed third in the all-around at Friday's NSC Meet at Ultimate. | Brian O'Mahoney~for Sun-Times Media

Updated: March 3, 2012 8:12AM

Just a guess: Becca Feltman-Frank will never, ever forget her parents’ wedding anniversary.

The Stevenson junior gymnast likes to sit down at a piano at home and play “Pachelbel’s Canon.”

It was composed in the baroque era in the 1680s, by Johann Pachelbel. It’s a classical piece, featuring three violins.

And it’s a classic.

“My parents (Jeff and Debby) walked down the aisle to that,” recalled the Patriot at Friday night’s NSC Meet at Ultimate Gymnastics in Gurnee.

A couple of teams, fittingly and figuratively, walked out of the club Friday night hand in hand.

Minus the raining rice.

Stevenson, which won the meet (144.6), and runner-up Lake Forest (143.95), which had edged Stevenson in a December dual, shared the overall NSC championship.

“We’re … recovering,” Patriots coach Judy Harwood said shortly after the start of the six-team meet.

Stevenson senior Theresa Wojton sat out the meet with an injury; classmate Ali Castriano battled a respiratory issue; and Feltman-Frank competed on bars and vault only — with a fractured right big toe.

She suffered the injury more than two weeks ago in a practice, when she smacked it on an uneven-bars bar.

It’s a serious owie that normally takes five-six weeks to fully heal.

But the last thing Feltman-Frank wants to do at this point of the season is divorce herself from the team.

“Becca,” Harwood said, “was fabulous tonight.”

Feltman-Frank placed seventh on bars, with a 9.2. That ranked second among Pats, behind Castriano’s first-place 9.5.

Leave it to Castriano to perform breathlessly … while having a tough time breathing.

Castriano also flew to a runner-up 9.9 on vault, took third in the all-around (36.75) and tied freshman teammate Elizabeth Shank for fifth place (9.25) on floor exercise.

“It’s so motivating, watching her,” said Feltman-Frank. “Nothing gets in Ali’s way.”

Stevenson junior Riley Trebilco collected bronze on floor (8.9), matching the prize freshman teammate Alyssa Weisberg took home on beam (9.4).

Other notable SHS efforts: Shank (eighth, all-around, 35.85; seventh, beam, 8.45); and Weisberg (eighth, floor, 9.0).

Seniors Laura Whalen, Esther Kim and Dani Webb also performed routines for Stevenson.

Harwood’s pre-meet pep talk to her shorthanded and ailing club had a couple of right-to-the-point messages.

One of the messages was a fraction-of-a-point reminder.

“I asked our girls, all of them, to try hard for every tenth (of a point) in every routine tonight,” Harwood said. “And to be aggressive.”

Huge difference: Libertyville junior Jenna 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 Wojton topped the field with a 9.6.

A-one Alison: Vernon Hills first-year coach Alison Gildemeister, a former Stevenson and Lake Forest assistant, was named NSC coach of the year after Friday’s NSC Meet.

Classy: Castriano was the Patriots’ NSC Sportsmanship Award honoree. She was recognized after Friday’s NSC Meet in Gurnee.

On the schedule: Stevenson vies for sectional berths at its regional on Feb. 1. Other schools in the field, all from the CSL: Maine East, Maine South and Niles North.

Flashback: Stevenson won its regional last winter, amassing an impressive 151.55 points on Jan. 31. Palatine (143.55) finished runner-up.

Castriano topped the all-around field (38.5) and won three events: beam (9.725), floor (9.6) and vault (9.625). Teammate Caitlin Pagano, a 2011 graduate, threw a meet-best 9.625 bars routine.