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Geneva runner-up at UEC meet

No one was going to catch DeKalb/Sycamore co-op during Saturday's Upstate Eight Conference meet in DeKalb.

That appeared to be more than acceptable with the competitors, including runner-up Geneva.

“They're so good, but we know the stakes get bigger after this one and we get to be at home for our regional,” Geneva's Bailey Pihera said. “This meet really boosted our confidence for next week and our vaults were really good. We had a lot of high energy there and hope to bring that again next week.”

DeKalb/Sycamore scored a season-best 149.3 as it finished off a perfect conference schedule. Geneva scored an impressive 143.575 to take second while Glenbard East was third with a season-best 138.9.

“We've been consistent all year long but we continue to get better which is nice,” Rams coach Jessica Bugajsky said. “We also had to pull some kids up because of some injuries. Our goal was to get third place and we got third place. We can't ask for much more.”

Kelsey Donovan finished third on beam with a 9.375 to lead the Rams while Veronika Srey led the team in the all-around with a 35.2.

The top five finishers in each event were named all-conference, and that included Geneva senior Claire Ginsberg who had top finishes in three events and was fourth in the all-around.

Fellow Geneva senior Michaela Allen added a fourth place effort on vault for the Vikings while Pihera took second place on beam with a 9.5.

St. Charles co-op finished in fourth place with a 134.725. Emma Grace Redmond-Mattucci led the squad by finishing third in the all-around while also earning Top 5 efforts on bars and beam, while teammate Grace Levita was fourth on floor.

The U-46 co-op was sixth with a 133.35. Ashley McKee led the squad, tying for sixth on bars with a 9.2 and placing fifth on beam with a 9.15.

“We had an injury to our No. 2 all-arounder which was a big hurt to our team,” U-46 co-op coach Tim Whelan said. “Everyone that was asked stepped up for us though and that was good to see. We'll see what happens when we're back here Monday for regionals.”

Batavia placed sixth with a 130.5. Its lone all-conference finisher was Cameron Hindel who took fifth on vault with a 9.3.

“I've improved to so much since last season so this is very nice,” she said. “I've been consistent all season but this was a bigger meet to do it. I just tried to not be scared and showed myself I could do it.”

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