As many students may know, a few weekends ago, senior Rachael Underwood was crowned state champion at the IHSA girls gymnastics meet. Congratulations are still in order, as this is a major win for the co-op team that Cary Grove is a part of with the rest of the District 155 schools.

This victory didn’t come as a huge surprise, according to Underwood.

“Every year, we’ve been getting closer and closer, so we were hoping this year would be it,” she said. Even with the high hopes that the team maintained, the meet proved to be unnerving.

“The scores were really close the whole meet, so we didn’t know how it was going to turn out,” Underwood said. “When it was all over, I was kind of in shock, like it didn’t feel real.”

After the shock wore off, Underwood was as proud of her team’s top finish as she was of her own.

“Overall I was so happy and excited for the team and overall win,” she said. “It was a great way to end my senior year of gymnastics. It was really exciting, as a co-op team we’re really close”.

Now with the high school season over, there isn’t much of a difference for Underwood as she makes her transition to the college gymnastics scene.

“Training or anything isn’t much different,” she said. “I don’t get much of a break. It’s just straight into college season from here.”

For Rachael, gymnastics have been prominent in her life since she was 3 years old. It will continue to be so, as she attends college at Western Michigan University on a full ride scholarship. She expects to continue with gymnastics throughout her college career.