Conant wins at Addison Trail
Conant had a number in mind prior to Saturday’s Fred Dennis Invite at Addison Trail.
The Cougars didn’t hit the 140 they were aiming for, but they still were good enough to win handily, scoring 139.55 points while runner-up Lake Park was well behind with a 133.25. Hersey took third with a 131.050 and Glenbard North was fourth with a 130.3.
“Our goal was a 140 today so we were very close,” Conant coach Paul Kim said. “We’re still not hitting 100 percent of our routines, and it’s nitty-gritty time so the guys know we’re right on the cusp, but they also know they need to clean some things up.”
Brian Reedy was the lone all-arounder for the Cougars, and he placed second with a 46.8. Joe Mauk won floor exercise with a 9.4 and added third-place finishes on parallel bars and high bar. Phillip Schorsch, Reedy and Nick Overby helped the Cougars dominate the pommel horse, finishing second, third and fourth, respectively.
“I think we were a little bit cleaner than we’ve been in past,” Kim said. “As a team the guys who are fourth and fifth are picking up the second and third score when the guys miss, so we’ve come together much better as a team in getting those solid scores.”
Lake Park had a pair of first-places finishes to help it secure second place. Sam Flory tied Hersey’s David Jackowski for top honors on vault with a 9.3, and Mike Buado claimed the title on pommel horse with a 7.6.
“We didn’t hit pommel horse except for Mike (Buado), so we were three points down there,” Lancers coach Keith Matune said. “I think we’re getting close to 140, which would hopefully put us in the mix in the end.”
Also for the Lancers, Mac Allen took second on still rings with an 8.9 and parallel bars with an 8.8.
“We had some great individual performances, but we need everyone,” Matune said. “I thought after the hard work in the gym we could challenge Conant, but they were fantastic today.”
Glenbard North freshman TJ Kennedy continues to follow in his footsteps of his brother, Ryan. He won the all-around with a 47.75, registering a 9.25 on vault and 9.1 on floor.
“I had one of my best meets last week and I guess that continued into today,” Kennedy said. “I had good form with all my routines and I hit all of them.”
Addison Trail’s Joe Haynes took third on still rings with an 8.2 and then won the high bar with an 8.5.
“He’s a very talented kid and he’s only in his third year of doing gymnastics,” Blazers coach Mike Galfi said. “He’s heading in the right direction, and one of his big goals is to get to the finals in state this year.”
Haynes wasn’t the only gymnast to have a strong individual performance as teammate Justin Wheeler took second on floor with a 9.2 to help the Blazers score 122.7 points and place sixth.
Fenton was fifth with a 123.65. Luis Catalan was the biggest winner for the Bison, winning still rings with a 9 while Norman Vitellaro was third on floor with a 9.2.