Prairie Ridge looks sharp at Buffalo Grove regional
Prairie Ridge co-op wasted little time in setting the tone for the postseason.
The Wolves have won back-to-back state titles and were in fine form on Monday at the Buffalo Grove girls gymnastics regional.
Senior Nikki Baars took first in the all-around (37.575) in powering the Wolves to their sixth regional title with a season-best score of 148.075 points.
Barrington put up a strong showing in taking second with 137.475 points, followed by host Buffalo Grove (132.925 points), Maine West (111.60 points) and Lake Zurich (92.275 points).
Prairie Ridge automatically advances to the Fremd sectional Feb. 7 at 6 p.m.
The Wolves captured the top four all-around spots with sophomore Kira Karlblom (36.875), sophomore Clancy Raupp (36.775) and sophomore Maddy Kim (36.30) going 2-3-4.
Baars, a Cary-Grove student, set the tone early by taking first on the bars (9.7). She added a pair of first-place finishes on vault (9.65) and floor (9.675) in elevating the Wolves' effort.
"We have won state the past two seasons and that is something we want to strive for," said Baars, who is the defending state champion on bars. "We have to own up to that, and it makes us that much more focused."
A trio of sophomores also stepped up big for PR, with Karblom taking second on the vault (9.475) and floor (9.55). Raupp added a first-place finish on beam (9.15) and third-place finishes on vault (9.4) and floor (9.15), and Kim added a second-place finish on bars (9.475) and beam (8.95) and fourth place on vault (9.2).
"Those three will be the anchor for this team down the road," said Prairie Ridge Co-op coach Lee Battaglia. "They are tough gymnasts."
After a blistering start, the Wolves had a few falls on beam to end night, but have put themselves in a good position heading deeper in the state series.
"We definitely have room for improvement," added Baars, "but we went out and tried our hardest and that is all you can ask for … tonight was kind of a pressure-releaser."
Senior Hayley Nilles stepped up to power Barrington's attack.
Nilles was coming off a first-place performance on bars at the Mid-Suburban League meet last Wednesday, and she kept the momentum rolling on Monday by taking fifth on the bars (9.3).
"Bars has been my most consistent event," said Nilles, who also placed sixth on the beam (8.55) and sixth on the all-around (34.575). "It felt good tonight."
Freshmen Ashley Diaz (8.675) and Lauren Tenbrunsel (8.575) aided strong performance on the beam for the Fillies by taking third and fifth. Tenbrunsel also tied for fourth on the floor (9.1).
"Beam wasn't very forgiving tonight," said Barrington coach Jason Loeffler, "but I thought our girls went up there and really attacked it."
Senior Teresa Riles also had a big night for the host Bison.
Riles took fifth in the all-around (35.275) and tied for fourth on the vault (9.2) and floor (9.1).
"I feel in pretty good shape," said Riles who tied for third in the all-around at the MSL meet. "I got held up on beam but I wanted to finish strong on the floor."
"This year she is just really thriving," said Buffalo Grove coach Stephanie Schrader of her senior standout.
Senior Bridget Donnowitz (8.95) and freshman Dagmara Sobolak (8.75) added to a strong Buffalo Grove floor exercise performance by taking sixth and eighth place.