Lake Catholic's First Gymnastics Team In 5 Years Is Finding Its Balance

"We're still going to eat eggs and grapes tomorrow."

It may sound like a silly slogan coming from the girls of the gymnastics team, but it's actually reassuring -- maybe even profound -- when the girls say this to one another.

It means that no matter how badly they may mess up during practice or at a meet, they will still wake up the next morning, enjoy breakfast and have another chance.

More than anything, it shows that this young team understands that time is on its side.

In more than 20 years

Lake Catholic has not fielded a full gymnastics team in several years, said Joe Corrigan, who coaches Lake Catholic, and several other local teams from .

That doesn't mean Lake Catholic hasn't had gymnasts during that time -- not at all.

However, unless a school has at least four gymnasts, they can only be scored as a group of individuals and not as a team. And the last time Lake Catholic had at least four gymnasts was in the late 1980s, Corrigan said.

And how does competing as a team differ from competing as an individual?

Gurley has both perspectives. . Unfortunately, they could not score as a team. Gurley said the difference is not just a matter of semantics. She said it makes her try harder when her score affects the team's success.

"I think it's motivating because I want to do well for them, for this team," Gurley said.

Young team

As a sophomore, Gurley is the most experienced member of the team. Her teammates -- Cecie Kohl, Kelly Burton and Kelli Deighan -- are all freshmen.

Consequently, the young team focuses more on improving than they do on, say, making states.

"We're just hoping to have better team scores and better individual scores each week," Burton said.

Being a young team has its benefits. The gymnasts know they can afford to be patient. Right now, a beam routine with no falls is a season highlight.

However, with potentially three years together, all the girls agree they have the time to become a top team.

"Each meet, they're getting better," Corrigan said.

"This is one of the most enjoyable teams to coach," he added, "because they're young and energetic."

Getting close

When asked what her highlight of her season has been thus far, Deighan said, "The highlight for me has been bonding with the team and getting closer."

Kohl agrees, "When I first came here, they were all so inviting."

The gymnasts are all friends but Burton explained that their closeness goes beyond friendship, beyond shouting encouragement to one another during a meet.

Their closeness comes from understanding each other and how they work as a team.

"We know each other's weaknesses and strengths, how to cheer each other up," she said.

And sometimes cheering each other is as simple as reminding each other they'll still eat eggs and grapes tomorrow.

Correction: This story originally said that this was the first Lake Catholic gymnastics team in 20 years. However, the Cougars staged a full team in 2005-2006. They have also have had other teams in the last twenty years.

We apologize for the error and certainly didn't intend any slight toward past Lake Catholic gymnastics teams.