Geneva's Ginsberg caps amazing weekend
Midway through Saturday's girls gymnastics individual event championships at Palatine, Geneva freshman Claire Ginsberg was called to the awards stand for winning Friday's all-around title.
She'd visit that same awards stand often.
Ginsberg placed in the top five on floor, vault and beam. She took third on floor with a 9.575, was fourth on beam with a 9.45, as well as fourth on vault with a 9.55.
“These last two days here have been pretty amazing,” she said. “Being here (yesterday) really helped me prepare for today. Overall, I was happy with how things went. I was glad about floor and beam because my score improved (from Friday).”
Her tallies on the aforementioned two events pushed Geneva's team total up slightly to 143.65, but the Vikings still remained situated in fifth place overall, the same place it secured last February.
“We were kind of disappointed this weekend because we knew we could've done better,” Ginsberg said. “We were hoping to be one of the top three teams, but it's OK. Things happen and hopefully we'll be back next year.”
Ginsberg wasn't the only area gymnast to trot to the awards stand as St. Charles co-op sophomore Rachel Dugan tied for fifth place on bars with a 9.45.
“You always feel that you can do better, but to finish my season like this, I'm pretty proud of myself,” Dugan said. “Obviously, we had a pretty good season and all the hard work we put in has paid off.”
St. Charles co-op senior Kelly Gorniak placed seventh in the floor exercise with a 9.425, as she actually improved her score from Friday. She had toyed with the idea of tweaking her routine, but decided against it.
“I tried some things in warm-ups but decided to go with the routine that I know I can hit 10-of-10,” Gorniak said. “Why take a chance and fall on a new pass in my last meet? So I kept it like it was, kept it safe, and it worked out.”
St. Charles co-op's team score increased slightly to 143.475 and they remained in sixth place.
Geneva's Megan Beitzel took 10th on vault with a 9.375 and Dominique Brognia did the same on floor with a 9.075.
“It wasn't as good as it was yesterday, but it still was an awesome experience and a great season for us,” Beitzel said. “It was nice to come together as a team and to finish up like we did today.”
While Brognia's final floor routine was far from her best this season, it's going to do little to tarnish the incredible season she and the rest of the Vikings have had.
“It's been an incredible year,” she said. “We pretty much won every meet. We didn't have our best meet yesterday, and I could've done better today, but it's been an amazing season. Maybe they'll even do better next year, we'll see.”