Glenbard East takes second in UEC

Glenbard East didn't win Saturday afternoon's Upstate Eight Conference meet, but the Rams finished ahead of St. Charles co-op.

That bodes well for Glenbard East's chances of advancing to a sectional as a team. The Rams turn right around on Monday to host a regional, and St. Charles is likely the biggest threat in its way.

DeKalb/Sycamore co-op, which finished undefeated in duals this winter, won the conference meet handily with a 145.175. Glenbard East followed with a 142.45, and St. Charles co-op scored a 141.225.

"Our goal now is just to do as well as we did today and maybe stick a few more beam routines," Rams coach Jessica Bugajsky said. "Our goal is to be in the 140s, and we're still in the 140s."

The Rams also outscored St. Charles co-op in a meet in Lombard on Dec. 6.

"We beat them today, so if we can beat them again on Monday then we'll be regional champs and that would be really cool," Bugajsky said. "We'll have homecourt advantage, so that's a little bit better too."

Kali Kartheiser led the Rams. The freshmen tied for first place on bars and won beam. She took third on floor and was second in the all-around with a 37.45 while teammates Rebecca Honig and Kelsey Donovan had a 35.125 and 34.275 respectively.

"We did really well to get second place because we could've done a lot better on beam," Kartheiser said. "That's our weakest event right now. We just need to believe in ourselves that we can do it. Physically we're ready, but we need to train our brains so they we're mentally ready, and that's that hardest part of gymnastics."

St. Charles co-op isn't going anywhere, and it should be stronger when it returns to action Monday.

"With what we've got right now, we only counted one fall so I'm very happy with what we did here today," St. Charles co-op coach Tom Wirth said. "We've got a lot of nagging injuries right now, but under these circumstances, we did the best we possibly could."

Senior Emma Grace Redmond-Mattucci looked healthy throughout the meet for St. Charles co-op, taking third in the all-around with a 37.175 while also placing second on vault and beam, third on bars and fourth on floor. Blakely Kresl added big scores on vault and beam and Mychaela Guy did the same on vault and floor for St. Charles co-op.

Geneva took fourth place with a 138.413.

Lily Chapman took third on vault with a 9.425, and Kelly Frank was fourth on beam with an 8.988 and fifth on floor with a 9.25.

"Getting to the 140s at this point is where we want to be right now," Vikings coach Kim Hostman said. "So hopefully we can get there next. That's our plan."

Batavia continues to battle injuries and was forced to compete without a couple regulars in the lineup so its scored dropped to 124.8 for sixth place. Taylor Novotny led the Bulldogs with a 32.25 in the all-around.

U-46 co-op rounded out the field with a 119.325. Gianna Murkowski had a 31.425 and Frances Kuzyk scored a 30.15 in the all-around to lead the team.