Geneva takes title at Hinsdale Central
Geneva sure didn’t look tired on Saturday morning.
At least not during their routines.
The Vikings, who got to bed late after competing in the DeKalb Invite on Friday and then had to meet at Geneva at 6:15 a.m. Saturday, outclassed the field in Hinsdale Central’s Red Devil Invite, outscoring runner-up Downers Grove South by more than 10 points, 141.925 to 131.475, for the title.
“It was hard because we were at DeKalb last night so we were all real tired today,” Vikings coach Kim Hostman said. “We had some major mistakes yesterday so it wasn’t our best meet and then today we watered down their routines a lot because I didn’t want them getting hurt with them tired. We still hit a 142 so I was pretty happy.”
Freshman Claire Rose Ginsberg, who was injured at the very beginning of the season, dominated the leaderboard, winning vault with a 9.6, beam with a 9.45 and floor with 9.4. She averaged a 9.3625 in all four events.
“I thought my scores today and yesterday were pretty good,” Ginsberg said. “I was a little bit nervous yesterday since it was my first meet back from an injury. Today, we just went out and got the job done.”
Geneva was the final team to compete on beam. After its first two gymnasts counted multiple falls, Ginsberg, Dominique Brognia (9.15) and Claire Scatterday (9.0), were nearly flawless and finished 1-2-3 overall.
Ginsberg’s routine featured a back tuck, a recently added aerial and ended with a round off one-and-a-half dismount. She followed Scatterday while Brognia finished the meet for the Vikings.
“It’s definitely a challenge to pick each other, especially after watching two falls,” Scatterday said. “We focus on doing it though and want to do whatever we can to help each other out. It’s team building and it helps us do well as a team.”
Brognia edged Ginsberg, 9.15 to 9 to win the uneven parallel bars.
“I stayed tight and did pretty much everything I wanted to do on them today,” Brognia said. “I’m still missing one of my skills, which will bring up my score a lot. I stuck my dismount which was really nice.”
The Vikings also received big contributions from Megan Beitzel (33.05) and Grace Ginsberg (32.55). Beitzel’s four scores were all within 8.3 and 8.45 while Ginsberg snagged a 9 on vault.
“We all worked together pushing each other through today,” Brognia said. “I’m so exhausted but I’m happy. I think it went much better than we thought.”
Emily Tom’s 33.55 led the Mustangs to a second place trophy. Bella Marzari added a 32.35.
“Yesterday I asked them to set two goals for today,” Mustangs coach Kristyn Campos said. “One was to go over 130 and the second was to take second and they got both, which was great.”
Lake Park, competing without any all-arounders, took third place with a 129.45.
“We had a few injuries and illness and Annalise (Donati) was out on a couple events,” Lancers coach Jake Luketin said. “We have a lot of talented kids, but not always in all four events so we’re trying to build a good all-around score out of the top four in each event.”