Lake Park wins DVC title
Lake Park finished off a perfect DuPage Valley Conference girls gymnastics season on Friday night, winning the league meet at Wheaton Warrenville South.
The Lancers weren't at their best but posted a 141.7 to surpass host Wheaton Warrenville co-op's 138.6, Glenbard North's 136.175 as well as the rest of the field.
Kelly Zehnder and Julia Kurek led the way for the winners, finishing in second and third, respectively, in the all-around with a 35.475 and 35.05.
"We're very excited to win it, especially since we won it last year," Zehnder said. "We look at the conference meet as practice for the state series but always want to do our best. We can be better but still won this, which gives us confidence that we can do even better next week."
Wheaton Warrenville co-op was pleased with its second-place finish.
"We have a lot to celebrate," Wheaton Warrenville co-op coach Maureen Latimer said. "Jackie Kerth has worked so hard on her two events and did well and then Macy (Smykal) winning floor was also very nice."
Smykal won floor with a 9.225 while Kerth was second on bars with a 9.3 and third on bars with an 8.875.
Glenbard North took third behind Erin Bregman's 37.6, which was the top score in the all-around. Bregman won bars, beam and vault so she was particularly in a jovial mood, holding a purple balloon after the meet.
"My dad's fiance's niece gave me the balloon, so I'm not even sure where she got it from but it's fun," Bregman said. "I had a good meet. I wasn't happy with my floor, but my all-around was good and my beam hasn't been consistent, but I was happy about how it went this time."
Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley co-op took fourth place with a 129.4 as Melissa Martin went to the award stand with a fifth-place effort on bars with an 8.675.
Neuqua Valley, still battling injuries and illnesses, was sixth with a 127.675, edging Naperville North's 126.875 and Naperville Central's 125.875.
One of the unforgettable moments of the meet was the ending on beam by the Huskies, because of freshman Chloe Tsao's performance.
She added an aerial and full to her routine and stuck both, earning a 9.325 to place second while concluding the competition.
"I finally got that whole set put in with the new skills," she said while lumbering around in ankles wrapped in ice afterward. "It's pretty exciting to finally hit it, especially in a meet that's this big."