It's Glenbard North's turn to win

One of the pleasant surprises when the girls gymnastics regional assignments were announced weeks ago also likely ensured that the Glenbard West regional still took place on Monday evening.

While the weekend's snowstorm forced the cancellation of classes at the District 87 high schools, the roads were clear enough by afternoon for neighboring schools Glenbard East, Glenbard North and Glenbard South to convene in Glen Ellyn.

The same four teams were also at Glenbard West for the District 87 Invite on Jan. 16 when the Hilltoppers edged the Panthers by 0.7. This time though, it was the Panthers who snuck past the hosts, 140 to 139.55.

They advance to next Tuesday's Glenbard North sectional.

"We knew that Glenbard West beat us at the district meet, so we knew they had the potential to beat us again," Panthers senior Katie Murphy said. "We just had to get everything together, and having Erin (Bregman) come back was a boost."

Murphy won floor with a 9.05 and tied for second on vault with a 9.05 as well. She was fourth on bars with a 9, which helped her place second in the all-around with a 35.45

Allison Wahrman and Leah Roman also advanced individually as all-arounders, placing fourth and fifth. Wahrman shared second place honors on beam with Murphy. She also was fourth on floor with an 8.8 and fifth on vault with a 9. Roman claimed second place on beam with an 8.975 and Anna Slater was fifth on floor with an 8.725.

Bregman's injury limited her, but she still took fifth place on beam with an 8.45 but really shined on bars, even impressing herself with a 9.425 for first place.

"It felt good because I was really nervous from not competing in a while and it was one of the best bars scores I've ever gotten," she said. "I've been doing a lot of bars in practice since I couldn't do anything else, so I guess I was more confident with my routine."

Glenbard West may have fallen short of a regional title, but it feels comfortable that it still may advance to the sectional as an at-large team.

"I think our score should hold fairly well," Hilltoppers coach Carlos Fuentes said. "Our goal was to get back into the sectional and winning a regional would've been icing on the cake, but we've had a great year with a team that's really scrappy and coming together at the right time."

Glenbard West utilized eight gymnasts on Monday and each one contributed at least one score to the team total.

"We have no superstars, but we hit 18 out of 20 routines," Fuentes said. "We're a very consistent team and Glenbard North is just more talented. That's nothing to be ashamed of, and Glenbard West gymnastics is about being consistent and hitting routines."

Amber Broucek led the Hilltoppers by winning the all-around with a 36.025. She also was the top scorer on vault with a 9.175 and beam with a 9.025, and she took second on floor with a 9.025. Not too shabby for someone who has been battling through a painful Achillles' injury.

"She hadn't done floor or beam the last two weeks because of her injury so we rested her as best we could," Fuentes said. "Without Amber we wouldn't have even been close (to Glenbard North)."

While it was also the first time she vaulted in two weeks, she proved to be fearless.

"I just went out there and threw my best skills and hoped for the best," she said. "On vault I felt good about it. I'm pretty proud that I stuck it after not doing it for a long time."

Teammate Sarah DeStefano situated herself on the award stand with a third-place effort on beam with a 9.275 and fourth on vault with a 9.025 as well as beam with an 8.7. She took third in the all-around with a 35.425.

"I'm only bummed about my floor score (8.425)," she said. "I didn't think I'd get third in the all-around, so I was excited about that and how we did overall as a team."

Also for the Hilltoppers, Allison Oakes took third on beam with an 8.85 and Amanda Rosch tied for fifth on bars with an 8.975.

Glenbard East placed third with a 127.825.

"We were pretty close to our season average," Rams coach Jessica Bugajsky said. "And we got one of our gymnasts back, Jackie Musial, who had been out sick."

Veronica Srey was the only gymnast to qualify for next week's sectional for the Rams. She struggled with falls on floor and beam but stuck her Yurchenko pike vault, tying for second with a 9.05.

"I've been doing the same vault for two years now," she said. "I've been working on it a lot in practice and it was good (on Monday night)."

Freshman Krasimir Ganeva took sixth on vault with an 8.95 and has a shot at advancing via an at-large qualifier for the Rams. Ganeva and Srey also could go as all-arounders if their scores hold up.

Glenbard South took fourth place with a 121.4. Senior Kate Rumel extended her season by taking third on floor with an 8.875. She led the Raiders with an all-around total of 32.075, while freshman teammate Michelle Glover scored a 31.425.