Bars can't bring Lake Park down in regional victory
An equipment malfunction on the bars put a scare into Andie Granskog and Lake Park, but the Lancers were able to overcome it during Tuesday's Lake Park girls gymnastics regional.
The Lancers advanced to next Wednesday's Glenbard North sectional, winning with 143.4 points.
"We had to deal with a situation there where the bars came down and fortunately Andie is OK and did not get hurt," Lake Park coach Jake Luketin said. "That was a relief to see, especially at this point in the season."
Junior Kelly Zehnder and freshman Julia Kurek finished in third and fourth place, respectively, in the all-around to lead the Lancers.
"Julia has really stepped up recently and is basically scoring what Kelly was also doing as a freshman," Luketin said. "Having a couple of girls scoring in that range really helps us out."
Marissa DiBenedetto took second on vault with a 9.175 and fellow senior Daniella Pellegrino did the same for the Lancers on beam with a 9.125.
"I think there are about seven teams in contention for three at-large spots (to get to state)," Luketin said. "Maybe we are one of those teams. It really depends on what everyone does at sectionals and we're only worried about us doing our best gymnastics to try to get there."
Glenbard East certainly did its best gymnastics, taking second place with a 139.625.
Rams coach Jessica Bugajsky believes the score was a school record and that it puts the team in a position to also advance to sectionals as a team for the first time in program history.
"Their goal was to finally make it to sectionals as a team and my hope is that this put us in position to get there," she said. "It's been a lot of fun with this group. They've gotten better and better all year long."
Senior Veronika Srey was fantastic, taking second in the all-around with a 36.425.
Sophomore Sierra Olson and freshman Kelsey Donovan also had top finishes on bars for the Rams.
Glenbard North senior Erin Bregman made a huge statement, scoring a 38 in the all-around as the Panthers took third place with a 136.7. She certainly has to be considered in the running for the state all-around title if she continues to perform like this.
"I think it went as well as I planned," she said. "I'm excited to see what can happen next. I know most of the other top girls so I'm looking forward to that."
Batavia's season-high 132.35 was certainly overlooked in the team standings, but not by coach Taryn Boyce.
"We were scoring 125 and 126 all season and I kept telling them that it didn't matter then," she said. "You take your falls and make your mistakes so that you're ready for conference and the regionals. I'm so proud of them. They had a super-clean meet."
Senior Cameron Hindel paced the Bulldogs, taking fifth in the all-around to earn her a berth in the sectional.