Geneva dominates UEC meet

The Upstate Eight Conference meet appeared to be a two-team race between Geneva and St. Charles co-op, but ended up not being much of a race at all.

The Vikings cruised past St. Charles co-op and the five other remaining schools on Thursday at the Mack Olson Gym in Geneva with 146.70 points, well in front of the 138.8 posted by St. Charles co-op.

Geneva sophomore Claire Ginsberg once again led the way, winning all four events to finish with a 38.1 in the all-around. Senior Grace Ginsberg placed second with a 36.10.

"We came in here wanting to win and got the job done. It was exciting to win again," Claire Ginsberg said. "And really fun to share the podium with her again. It was one of our last home meets and we've always been doing gymnastics together."

Claire Ginsberg had a 9.45 on floor as well as beam, a 9.5 on vault and a school-record 9.7 on bars, besting the previous record of a 9.6 from Dominique Brognia, who coincidentally was in attendance to see her mark broken.

"We're just looking to keep getting better, focusing on sticking and landing because every tenth counts," Claire Ginsberg said. "We all hit on beam today, which was a great confidence booster."

Senior Megan Beitzel took third on vault with a 9.45 and second on bars with a 9.35 for the Vikings.

"I've been focusing the past couple weeks of staying tighter and squeezing to help the team score on bars," she said. "I thought I did the best that I could today."

Freshman Holly Friedel was third on bars with a 9.05 while the Vikings owned the first four places on beam. After Claire Ginsberg's 9.45, sophomore Julia Grootens had a 9.15, Friedel a 9.1 and freshman Bailey Pihera an 8.9.

"I hurt my ankle in warm-ups and was nervous if I'd hit or not," Grootens said. "We went 5-for-5 so I was really proud of everyone. It was a great experience. A lot of cheering made me very comfortable and whenever there was a mistake we picked each other back up."

Mistakes plagued St. Charles co-op. It's hard to believe that the same team scored a 145.95 in the same gym a week ago.

"It's not that they don't have the difficulty, they do," St. Charles coach Amy Lill said. "But when you fall multiple times it doesn't matter. I know they can do it. I just hope they finally come in next time with the confidence that they know they can do it and be confident. I feel like they come in here and they don't have it."

Freshman Emma Grace Redmond-Mattucci tied for third in the all-around with a 34.75, was third on floor with a 9.1 and tied for fourth on bars with an 8.85.

Devon Ross tied for fourth on vault with Batavia junior Megan McGee with a 9.35 and Dani Buoy placed fourth on floor with a 9.05.

Batavia took third place with a 134.8. McGee placed fifth in the all-around with a 34.55.

"Overall, I was satisfied with today," she said. "I'm definitely going to get back to the gym though to work super hard for regionals."

Neuqua Valley was fourth with a 132.65 and Emily Jacobs was fifth on beam with an 8.8. Isis Ruff was sixth in the all-around with a 34.3.

"It was not what I was hoping for," Wildcats coach Anthony Avella said. "We started on beam, and beam and floor have been our best two (events) for the entire season, but they were our worst two (on Thursday) and that was the difference between third and fourth place."

Sophomore Claire Samojedny was fifth on floor with an 8.85 and tied for third in the all-around with a 34.75 to lead Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley co-op to fifth place with a 130.65.

"Today was the first time I competed my pike vault so I was really proud of myself for that," she said. "But I was disappointed with my performance on bars and beam. I fell on my dismount because I opened up too late and then my back tuck on beam was a little off."

Glenbard East was sixth with a 129.05. Veronika Srey led the Rams, taking seventh in the all-around with a 34.2.

U-46 co-op scored a 127.55. Ashley McKee tied for fourth on bars with an 8.85.