The varsity women’s gymnastics team has kicked off the 2015-2016 season with a record of 4-1.

Despite the loss of past state qualifiers Hannah Hartley and Julia Stadler the team is committed to advancing through conference, sectionals and eventually state, according to junior Katie Wahl. Wahl points out the women’s weaknesses that are in the team’s way.

“We would love to have [Hartley and Stadler], but I think we can focus on ourselves to improve,” Wahl said. “Our strength is that everyone has their own personal strengths that compliment each other. Our weakness is that we are not deep, so we are vulnerable if something goes wrong or if someone gets hurt. We will just be another team out there ready to fight.” 

Vulnerability to injury is evidenced by Wahl’s concussion at the Dec. 8 Evanston meet. Wahl hit her head on bars, putting her out for weeks.

“We knew that if someone got hurt, we would need to find people that are in junior varsity and freshman/sophomore to come up,” Wahl said.

As a consequence of low depth and Wahl’s injury, head coach Stephen Gale and the team lean heavily on top scorers, specifically seniors.

“I put a lot of stock in senior leadership on the team,” Gale said. “[They]have a big responsibility to carry on the traditions of the girls’ program.”

The Titan Quad Meet win against Vernon Hills and Wheeling kicked off the season. This meet was a symbol of the reunited team, according to senior Ella Voss.

Despite the win, Wahl comments that the  meet revealed areas of needed  improvement, but she personally avenged previous mistakes.

“We were shaky, so it showed what we have to improve,” Wahl said. “[But on my] bar routine, on club I didn’t do [well], so I was able to redeem myself.”

The girls then got a win against rival GBN, on Dec. 3. Sophomore Bebe Haramaras sees it as being a good meet for the team.

Wahl adds that the girls’ positive mind-set walking in benefitted them and pinpoints the win being due to determination.

“We went in with the mindset that we have to focus on our routines,” Wahl said. “You have no control over what the other team does. Our drive sticks out. ”

According to Wahl, the next win at Evanston was disastrous and the one goal was to survive.

“I got my concussion that meet and Bebe was sick, so we wanted to just get through it,” Wahl said.

The win was verified through Haramaras stepping up at the end, despite her sickness.

“I was sick and when [Wahl] got hurt, my coach was going to pull someone up from JV, but I volunteered to do it to make sure we got enough points to win,” Haramaras said.

As a result of Wahl’s injury, the team took 5th at the GBN invite. Last year, the team took 1st.

“Last season all six of us were ready to go,” Wahl said. “A combo of not having depth and me being out, made trying to put up extra scores hard. New Trier was the team to watch.”