Oak Park and River Forest High School senior Jane Walker thrives on staying busy.
“I’ve tried to limit things before and it actually makes me worse at all of them,” Walker said.
“I find that my best performances are when I do a lot of things. I’ve worked a lot on being focused on each of my individual things separately rather than stressing about all of the things at the same time.”
These days, Walker probably is at her happiest. She is in the midst of her final and best high school girls gymnastics season after being part of the Huskies’ sectional-qualifying teams the past two seasons.
The top-notch student also stays active as a multi-talented musician who is a violinist with the school orchestra and plays with the School of Rock show and regular performance teams.
In a rare instance Dec. 9, Walker missed a Saturday gymnastics invite to play guitar in one of two mandatory School of Rock performances.
“I usually try and schedule things around gymnastics and if I skip things, it’s not gymnastics,” Walker said. “I skip other things and prioritize gymnastics.”
Balance beam and floor exercise are Walker’s favorite events and probably her best chances at reaching her first state meet, along with all-around.
At the West Suburban Conference Silver Meet Saturday, Walker earned two top-five medals by taking fourth on uneven bars (8.85) and fifth in all-around (34.625) and was sixth on vault (9.0). The Huskies (133.425) finished fourth in the final overall standings.
“Right now, I’m really liking floor,” said Walker, whose routine music, “Darkness of Light,” has violin accompaniment.
“When I nail my beam routine, I like that, but it’s harder to do well. I like the challenge of beam.”
As a musician, Walker prefers playing in groups rather than solo. Teammates have heard her play violin before meets twice — two years ago with Chloe Kratz for her Senior Night and alone last season.
“One of my teammates told me she’d give me $20 if I did it. And she didn’t give me the 20 bucks,” Walker said, laughing.
In the gym, her dedication is paying off with higher-level skills gradually being incorporated into her routines.
On Dec. 13, Walker achieved 9.0 on floor, her first “legitimate” 9.0 with the Huskies, other than one caused by a scoring error. She has scored as high as 8.95 on beam.
Despite battling a fever in her season all-around debut, Dec. 6, she scored 35.10 with conservative but well-executed routines.
Seniors Violet Ruff, Gabby Morales and Ellie Wolski also have reached sectionals individually the past two seasons. The Huskies competed at the Elk Grove Regional on Monday.
“[Walker] has such high expectations for herself, whether it’s her studies, extracurriculars,” OPRF coach Kris Wright said. “She’s upped her game. She’s set up some goals and she’s met those goals. Her work ethic and focus is what is allowing her to stay on her path. I think she has what it takes to get [to state].”
Walker began gymnastics when she was 4, leaving the sport briefly before joining the Huskies as a sophomore. She also began violin lessons around the age of 4.
One benefit from both activities is that her arm strength from gymnastics boosts her endurance during lengthy orchestra pieces.
“The only real similarity I notice is keeping your nerves under control during performances, just making sure you’re really solid in what you’re doing so you don’t mess up in a high-stakes situation,” Walker said.
Whichever school she selects, Walker plans to join the college orchestra and study space science, most likely astrophysics or astrobiology, possibly in relation to plant biology.
She began playing guitar (like her father) in 2021 and has added the mandolin (like her mother). She sometimes plays bass in a band with her father, her mother, who also sings, and her mom’s husband, who writes songs.
Walker’s favorite symphonies are by Felix Mendelssohn from the 1800s.
“He’s easy to focus to and it’s not too jarring,” Walker said.
But her release comes in the gym.
“I think gymnastics is the best outlet for that kind of stress. When I’m at gymnastics, I don’t really think about many other things.”