Naperville Central's aches hurt a little less
Sophomore Rose Fritz and her Naperville Central girls gymnastics teammates battled rival Naperville North on Thursday with the minimum lineup of four per event.
That meant every score counted for the Redhawks - and also should have added to the tension.
"I feel absolutely no additional pressure because if I put any more pressure on myself then I don't do as well," Fritz said. "I just try to relax and have fun and that way I score the best that I can."
The Redhawks' aches and pains felt a little better for a long while after they edged the Huskies on their Senior Night 123.25 to 122.35.
Junior Katie Petro fueled Naperville Central's strong second half by taking first on floor exercise with an 8.55 and balance beam by tying her season high of 8.7.
Fritz won all-around with a 32.00 and uneven bars with a season-high 8.1. Naperville North sophomore Leah Molloy won vault with an 8.3.
In most meets teams are allowed five competitors per event with the four best scores used to compile the team event score. In their last home dual Jan. 5, the Redhawks used the absolute minimum - four all-arounders - and scored 124.50.
"I think the team did really well (Thursday). The season's coming to an end and we're all putting our best efforts forward," Fritz said.
On Thursday, Fritz, sophomores Hailey Haumann and Maddie Surin were all-arounders, Petro competed on three events and sophomore Natalie Stephens vaulted. Each had at least one top-three finish.
"Yeah, they are (used to this)," Naperville Central coach Glen Reimers said. "I don't change anything, nothing whatsoever (using four per event). I say, 'This is the meet. You're going to do the same thing as if we had five in the lineup.' "
The Huskies honored their five seniors and the Redhawks' eight. All 13 competed, but only Naperville North's Bella Mandarino on the varsity level.
"Technically we're rivals but at the same time we're good friends at heart. We were cheering each other. We wanted everyone to do so well," Molloy said.
As usual, Mandarino competed on everything but uneven bars. She stuck her beam routine and was the last competitor on floor, adding a Senior Night touch by releasing glitter at the beginning of her routine.
"The seniors change one of two things in their routine and it's fun for the gymnasts to laugh at," Mandarino said. "I've been looking forward to this since I was a freshman. I've been doing gymnastics my whole life so this was almost like a celebration of my career."
At Saturday's Naperville North Invite, the ninth-place Huskies outscored the 11th-place Redhawks 123.375 to 118.90. On Thursday, Surin, battling an ankle injury, competed for the first time in a month. Her future, however, is uncertain, after a hard fall during beam.
"As you can tell, many of us, when we're coming off the floor, we're limping or crying or something," Petro said. "Gymnastics is pretty much shoving all of the pain down inside during your routine and then afterwards you can let it out in whatever way."
The Redhawks trailed 60.45 to 59.70 after vault and uneven bars. Petro set their tone as the first competitor on both floor and beam.
"I pretty much do the opposite of Rose. I overthink and overanalyze everything," Petro said. "It's just good to put yourself in the moment, I guess."
The Huskies' Chloe Tsao and Emma Ryan also had top-three finishes and Grace Ryan also competed all-around.
Molloy won vault by winning the battle to land her second attempt at a tuck Tsukahara.
"I had like four, five steps, but I stood it up," Molloy said. "I think we did really, really amazing. Today was probably one of our best meets, maybe not score-wise. But there was a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of encouragement."