Sure enough, Thea Scheuer is back at state

MUNDELEIN – It all had become too much for Thea Scheuer. Mentally. Physically. The one-hour drive round trip to Carol Stream with four hours of gymnastics practice in between, five days a week.

So, she quit.

From April 2023 to April 2024, Scheuer stopped doing the sport she loves, didn’t even step in a gym. She took a hiatus, anyway, from gymnastics.

“I did tennis for a little bit, but I was not very good,” Scheuer, a Cary-Grove senior, said with a laugh.

Scheuer is good at gymnastics, better at swinging from bars than swinging at tennis balls. She contributed to the Prairie Ridge co-op’s 2022 state-championship team as a freshman, then competed in club gymnastics her sophomore year.

Then, Lee Battaglia, who coached Prairie Ridge to four state titles from 2015-20, returned to the area after having lived out of state.

“My dad [Steve] actually reached out to Lee because he heard that he was back, and Lee convinced me to come back to the gym and just try some things out, see if I would like to potentially go back to gymnastics,” Scheuer said. “I really liked it.”

She loved it.

“I’ve actually never been happier in gymnastics,” Scheuer said.

Her smile Thursday after the conclusion of the Mundelein Sectional was proof of that.

Scheur earned fourth-place medals on the uneven parallel bars (9.25) and the floor exercise (9.475) as Prairie Ridge chalked up a 142.55 in finishing runner-up to New Trier (143.575). Heading into Friday’s Glenbard West Sectional, the last of four in the state, Prairie Ridge holds the third of four at-large state berths that are awarded. The state meet is Feb. 21-22 at Palatine.

“The kids did well,” said Battaglia, who filled in for head coach Lexi Redmond, who was not at the meet. “A couple misses here and there that can be corrected. Hopefully, we’ll get in and be at state.”

Scheuer also placed seventh in the all-around (36.7) and was 15th on vault (9.225) and balance beam (8.75). She fell on beam.

“Beam’s been a little struggle for me all season, but that’s OK,” Scheuer said. “I’m just working on staying consistent. Everything else has been pretty consistent. I’m just hoping to get that beam stuck for state.”

No other Prairie Ridge gymnast medaled, but sophomores Bryleigh Cooper (36.3) and Nora Terhaar (35.825) finished 10th and 15th, respectively, in the all-around. Cooper and Terhaar also tied for ninth on vault (9.35). Terhaar was eighth on bars (9.025), and sophomore Tess Morton finished 12th (8.875). Cooper (9.15) was 10th on floor, and Terhaar (9.1) took 11th.

Sophomore Brooklyn Boling and senior Alexis Vallee also competed for PR, which scored only 33.85 on beam.

“We were just a little bit rough on beam,” Battaglia said. “Last week we were in like in the 35s, and that was basically the big difference tonight.”

What a difference it’s been for Prairie Ridge having Scheuer back in a leotard this season.

“It was kind of more mental for me,” she said of her decision to take a year off from her sport.

For about six years in a row, she added, she dealt with Sever’s disease, an inflammatory condition that affects the growth plate of the heel bone, and plantar fasciitis.

She plans on studying human health sciences (physical therapy) at Kentucky in the fall but doesn’t plan on competing for the gymnastics team, even though Battaglia thinks she’s talented enough.

Since April 2024, Scheuer has been training again at Gymnasti in Carol Stream, four hours a day, five days a week.

“Next week is going to be my last week,” she said. “I’m actually pretty sad about it, but that’s OK.”