Lincoln-Way East senior Alaina Lekki turned her biggest fear into her greatest strength, making her coach cry in the process.
The final performance of Lekki’s gymnastics career Saturday was her finest and it came on the balance beam, which once was her weakest event.
“My freshman year, I wouldn’t even go on the beam,” Lekki said. “I was pretty scared of beam.
“So it’s pretty cool to see my beam go from that to being able to compete at state finals. And being able to make it here on a couple of the other events was pretty special.”
Lekki felt special, scoring 9.325 to finish sixth on beam at the state meet in Palatine.
So special that it had Lincoln-Way East coach Brooke Zych trying, sometimes without success, to hold back the waterworks.
Making her third appearance at the state meet, Lekki qualified for the individual event finals for the first time by scoring 9.3 on Friday and grab the 10th and final spot in the beam final.
On Saturday, Lekki was one of only two gymnasts to improve on her preliminary score, joining Downers Grove Co-op senior Genevieve Herion, who won the state title with a 9.575.
Lekki’s routine, which features two back tucks and a full-twisting dismount, was nearly good enough to earn a top 5 medal. She finished .025 behind Hinsdale South senior Anya Patel.
“When she landed, I was just incredibly proud to be her coach and to just witness all of the growth that she had,” Zych said. “We did a huge hug and did a lot of crying, but it was happy tears because it was a journey that was topped off by an amazing state meet.”
Indeed, Lekki was thrilled to cap her career on what most gymnasts consider the toughest of the four events.
“It felt pretty good to go out with a hit routine and just use everything I’ve been working toward to be able to show it off here,” Lekki said. “Just working with my coaches and taking my time through it all I think helped a lot.”
Zych was impressed by Lekki’s transformation from timid freshman to inspiring team leader. That went beyond what Lekki accomplished on the beam.
“When she came in as a freshman, she was a little nervous, as all freshmen are,” Zych said. “She started out not loving beam, and over her career here, she’s really blossomed into one of the best beamers that I’ve seen.
“We worked a lot this year on confidence and just believing in herself. She was an amazing senior leader, and she was able to bring out the very best this year.”
And not just in herself. Lekki helped the Griffins capture their first state trophy. They scored 145.60 points to finish third, .05 behind runner-up Prairie Ridge. Downers Grove won with 148.725.
The Griffins, who were making their first state appearance since 2019, had four gymnasts reach the event finals. In addition to Lekki, senior Rylee Miller tied for eighth on uneven bars with 9.325, while junior April Madison took 10th at 9.3. Sophomore Jillian Riebe tied for ninth on floor at 8.925.
“It’s very special,” Lekki said. “I’ve been wanting this since we were freshmen, so to be able to do it now in my senior year and at my last meet is really cool.
“This team just believes in each other a lot and was willing to put it all out there when we needed it most. We all believed it what we could do and were confident enough to go out there and do what we know how to do and get it.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
