Gymnastics team utilizes young talent, builds for next season

Junior Kevin Kapustka (left) and freshman Oliver Kapustka demonstrate a handstand on the parallel bars. The brothers are competing together at Glenbrook North this year on the boys gymnastics team. Photo by Richard Chu.

Standing under the high bar at the Glenbrook North conference tournament, freshman Daniel Lavrentiev took a deep breath, pulled himself up, swung his legs to build momentum, thrust himself into the air, then turned 180 degrees to land his hands back on the bar, now facing the other way.

Though he did well at conference, Lavrentiev said the routine he did at state was the best he had done all season.

According to Ryan Dul, boys gymnastics head coach, Lavrentiev is one of two freshmen on the boys varsity gymnastics team who compete alongside six juniors and three seniors.

Junior Casey Mutchnik said three gymnasts from GBN qualified for state based on the results of the sectional tournament — himself, freshmen Oliver Kapustka and Lavrentiev.

At state, Mutchnik was the lone finals qualifier, finishing 5th in the state for parallel bars and averaging a score of 9.3 out of 10.

The team finished the regular season with a 2-5 record, fourth in the conference tournament with a score of 145.00 and fifth in the sectional tournament. At the sectional tournament, Glenbrook North scored a cumulative 144.1 points, which was 16.65 points behind Deerfield, the current leading team in state and sectional champions.

The team began the season with a score of 134.8 and finished conference nearly ten points higher, according to Dul.

The first half of our season were some of the worst meets we had,” said Dul. “But, after spring break we stepped it up and we have increased our difficulty, performed a lot better in regards to presentation. That ranking, although it’s good, we are better than what it truly says.”

Mutchnik said one reason the team has improved is because many gymnasts have recovered from injuries sustained at the beginning of the season.

“Earlier in the season we just had so many injuries,” said Mutchnik. “For example, there was one meet we really should have won against GBS where I think me, [Oliver Kapustka], Max Warshawsky and [senior] Jack Skaja, were the only varsity members at that meet. Basically, we have 10 to 12 guys on varsity, but at that meet we had something like four to six.”

Dul said that beyond injuries, team unity has improved as well through a sense of camaraderie and helping each other out.

“[The gymnasts] watch each others routines and tell them where specific form breaks have occurred so that they know where to focus their attention to for the next time that they compete,” said Dul. “They push each other to be better which is what you want out of any athlete.

One example of this bond, according to Dul, can be seen in the varsity brother duo, Kevin and Oliver Kapustka.

Kevin Kapustka said he helped Oliver transition into a more team-oriented high school system, as well as help him with skills and motivation.

Mutchnik said their relationship creates a lot of enjoyment for the rest of the team.

“I love it,” said Mutchnik. “It’s adorable. They’re adorable. Classic sibling rivalry. They’re stealing spots from each other on varsity left and right. There’s also a contrast there because Kevin’s kind of a goof, and [Oliver] just shows no emotion, so we make fun of them for that.”

According to Kevin Kapustka, the competitive aspect of their relationshipis overridden by the support they have for each other.

“Trying to get leverage over one another is obviously a motivational factor, but I still cheer my brother on at every meet,” Kevin Kapustka said.

According to Dul, this support has led the gymnasts to improve together as team and end the season of strong.

“All through this year, the growth we have seen has been really, really great,” Dul said.