Glenbard West edges Lyons Twp.
When you win a girls gymnastics meet by 0.05 points, it takes your team’s best score and fourth-best score, as well as the two in between each of the four events, to pull out the victory.
Glenbard West received key scores from Abbie Garchitorena, Shauna Gialluisi, Missy Guzman, Emma McCloskey, Mackenzie O’Keefe and Nicole Pagor to edge Lyons Twp. 140.30 to 140.25 during Wednesday’s West Suburban Silver meet in Glen Ellyn.
“It was real close so it was good to win,” Garchitorena said. “We put it together at the end.”
Closing the meet with the floor exercise, Glenbard West outscored Lyons, 36.9 to 36. Guzman had a 9.3, Garchitorena produced a 9.35 and Pagor concluded the meet with a 9.4.
“Floor is one of our best events, so we knew we could do it,” Garchitorena said. “We just tried to clear our minds after beam and start fresh again.”
The Hilltoppers counted four consecutive falls on beam but still finished with a 33.95.
“You figure we count four falls on beam, a fall on vault and a fall on bars,” Glenbard West coach Carlos Fuentes said. “We easily left 3½ points out there. We know we have the skills, but we’ve been trying to add more difficulty, and in the first half of the year it’s working on getting the kinks out.”
Pagor, Garchitorena and Gialluisi all competed as all-arounders in the winning effort. The Hilltoppers also received a first-place effort on bars from O’Keefe with a 9.35 while McCloskey contributed an 8.85 on floor.
“We’re slowly getting to full strength,” Fuentes said. “Mackenzie (O’Keefe) only went on bars tonight and she won, which was great to see, especially against Lyons, and Missy went on three events.”
Kelsy Kurfirst led Lyons with an all-around score of 37.25. Kurfirst won vault, floor and beam.
“We have a lot of work to do, and losing this closely is motivating for us,” Lyons coach Kari Karubas said. “There’s a lot of room for improvement, which is good for us at this point, but (Glenbard West) had a great meet and deserved to win.”
Fuentes wasn’t sure when the Hilltoppers last beat Lyons head-to-head in a dual meet. The Hilltoppers did oust the Lions in the West Suburban Conference meet last winter.
“It’s been maybe three years, I’m not sure, but we know this puts us in the driver’s seat in conference,” he said. “One of our goals is to win the conference outright. We’ve won twice as a school but tied both times, so it would be nice to win it outright, but we know Hinsdale Central will be tough and Lyons won’t give in.”