Another record score for sore Geneva team

The Geneva girls gymnastics team's ankles are sore. Fortunately for the Vikings, their scores continue to soar.

For the third time this season, Geneva established a school scoring record as the Vikings posted a 139.475 in Monday's quadrangular against Andrew, host Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley Co-op (141.15) and champion Neuqua Valley (143.75).

Kaitlyn Kanarowski had a memorable morning for the Vikings, establishing a personal record all-around total of 36.65. She won beam with a 9.275 as she employed a new dismount to her routine. Kanarowski also had Geneva's best finishes on vault where she tallied a 9.3 and on bars where she concluded her day with a 9.1.

"It was a very good day, and actually a PR for me," she said. "I got off to a good start and it helped me stay confident."

It's not her ankles, but shin splints that are pestering junior Emily Ott. They left her grimacing after posting a 9 on vault but didn't distract her from setting a personal- and meet-best 9.6 in the floor exercise.

"Today was the first time I've done vault in a week or week and a half," Ott said. "I'm just trying to take it slowly. I had a little bit of a wobble on beam but had my best on floor so it was a good day."

The Vikings would not have been able to set their record without contributions from several other gymnasts. Alexis Graham and Alycia Hostman registered an 8.55 and 8.45, respectively, on vault. Freshman Delaney Wood posted an 8.3 on bars, Erin Kluck executed an 8.85 on floor and Cami Pfetzer scored an 8.45 on beam.

Geneva travels to Oswego next Monday to conclude its regular season before returning to Oswego on Jan. 30 for the Independents Conference meet. The Vikings will then look to use the home gym advantage on Feb. 1 when they host a regional for the first time in school history.

• Batavia honored its senior gymnasts on Monday night.

Catherine Christensen, Marisa Dransoff, Olivia Fisher, Danae Fuqua, Courtney Getz, Jackie Hansen and Melissa Van Ham all competed for the final time in their home away from home in the Batavia Park District gym.

Batavia scored a season-high 137.55, exactly 1 point better than its previous best on Jan. 4 in the annual Tri-Cities meet. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, they came up short to a South Elgin/Bartlett/Streamwood Co-op squad that also posted a season high.

"We put in three new vaults so that helped out today," Batavia coach Taryn Boyce said. "But we still counted a lot of falls on beam."

Fuqua led the Bulldogs with a 9.35 on vault, Van Ham followed with a 9.2 and Emma Gear finished with a 9.15. Scores were low on beam due to miscues. Fuqua finished with an 8.5 and Dransoff finished with an 8.0.

Fuqua posted the top score in all four events for the Bulldogs, and the highlight of the evening came on bars, where she skillfully executed her tricky Jaeger release move and was rewarded with a 9.7.

"It's been one of those things where throughout the year I've come closer and closer," she said. "I had a lot of energy. I kind of struggled with it in practice but the motivation was especially here today."

The Bulldogs will have an opportunity to see South Elgin/Bartlett Streamwood Co-op again on Feb. 6 in the Glenbard West regional. The hosts are the top seed but South Elgin/Bartlett/Streamwood Co-op and Batavia are No. 8 and No. 9 respectively and will likely battle for an at-large bid to sectional.

"We can't go in expecting to win that with Glenbard West scoring 10 points better than us," Boyce said. "When we get there we'll just do the best we can and try to go (to sectional) as an at-large team.

Batavia continues its busy week with a dual meet at Glenbard South on Wednesday before traveling to the 20-team Niles West Invite on Saturday.