Geneva's season-best beats St. Charles
Geneva freshman Lily Chapman scored a 9.05 on floor and an 8.85 on vault during Thursday's Upstate Eight meet against St. Charles co-op in Geneva.
As impressive as those two scores were, they weren't good enough to count toward the Vikings team total. That's just how good Geneva was in a 148.4 to 145.95 victory.
The 148.4 points were easily a season best.
"The goal was 148 today so we hit that, so I'm really pleased with the kids," Geneva coach Kim Hostman said. "They've worked really hard to add new skills, and they really proved it on floor and came through on vault."
The Vikings only had a single error on bars and a couple mistakes on beam, but were clean for the most part from beginning to end.
"If we can fix that we can be well up in the 149s and hit 150 at some point," Hostman said. "I'm pleased with the outcome."
Sophomore Claire Ginsberg looks like she's on pace to possibly win another state all-around title. She posted a school-record 38.5 with a 9.45 on vault, 9.5 on bars and 9.65 on beam before finishing with a 9.75 on floor.
"I think everything came together. I hit all of my routines and got rewarded with high scores," she said. "My highest score ever, so that was nice. It's really exciting. I just try to think about the team while doing it and it usually comes together."
While Ginsberg's performance was epic, her teammates were really good too. Older sister, Grace, took third in the all-around with a 35.6 and had a 9.45 on vault, while fellow senior Megan Beitzel had a 9 on bars and 9.4 on vault. Sophomore Julia Grootens earned a 9 on vault, 9.1 on bars and 9.6 on floor.
Freshmen stepped up as well. Chapman's 8.8 on bars was a key contribution, as was Molly Lambillotte's 9.3 on floor and Holly Friedel's 9.3 on bars.
"Having someone like Claire to look up to, who was in the same situation as a freshman last year, really helps with our confidence," Friedel said. "She's been a big help overall."
Not many teams will score 145.95 or more points this year like St. Charles co-op, and even fewer will lose a dual meet while doing so. Despite being outscored, St. Charles was thrilled with its production.
"I really think they're at the point where they're hitting at the same time and jiving together," St. Charles co-op coach Amy Lill said. "That's what we really have tried to achieve, and we had a rough start going from 133 up to 145, but now I'm excited for the next couple of weeks to see what they can do."
Junior Jill Horlbeck was one of the reasons for the rough start because she was sidelined with a knee injury. She recently returned and had a 9.35 on vault and took second on beam with a 9.4.
"Beam just came naturally for me so I've always liked it," she said. "Hopefully I can start doing pikes again on vault, but I haven't had a chance to work on it because we've had a lot of meets lately."
Freshman Emma Grace Redmond-Mattucci was the lone all-rounder for St. Charles co-op with a 36.85. Her best score was a 9.45 on floor. Junior Devon Ross took second on vault with a 9.55 and had a 9.3 on floor.
Other notable scores for St. Charles co-op included a 9.3 on vault from senior Racquel Favia, 9.15 on floor from junior Dani Buoy and a 9.1 on bars and 9.25 on floor from Grace Levita.