Panthers seniors proud of dual finish
Seniors Meghan Court and Kristin Nordquist have contributed a great deal to the success of the Glenbard North girls gymnastics team, especially during the past two years.
On senior night Monday, the two gymnasts competed in their final dual meet of the season and helped the Panthers finish an 11-0 regular season by defeating Glenbard South 144.75-130.5.
The two will still get to compete at home once more when Glenbard North hosts a regional on Jan. 30.
"It was a really good feeling tonight because both me and Kristin ended on a really good note," Court said. "We both had good meets today and while it was a little sad, it was also exciting because we're able to look back at how far we came and what we all accomplished after four years of awesome gymnastics."
As if it were scripted, the two seniors would prove to have the top performances on Monday as Court finished first (36.7) and Nordquist second (35.95) in the all-around. Court won vault (9.3) and beam (9.15) and Nordquist was second in floor (9.1) as well as on bars where she set a new career high.
"I didn't even compete on bars at the beginning of the year," Nordquist said. "Vault I stuck it, beam I stuck it and it was cool and floor. I had a great meet tonight so I got really, really exited about it."
Nordquist also nearly tied her career-best all-around total of 36.
"She had a great night,² Panthers coach Edsel Clark said. "She's kind of struggled here and there this season in certain events and then today she was great. You couldn't have asked for a better senior night for her."
Likewise, Clark was pleased to see his other senior shine.
"Megan was a little shaky on beam but stayed on and had a little bobble on bars but still a good night for her," he said. "She had almost a 9.2 average in the all-around which is great for her."
While the seniors were special, so were four other gymnasts for the Panthers. Amber Fox finished third in all-around (35.75) and second on vault (9.0) and beam (9.0), Jen Dardanes tied for second on vault (9.0), Christina Rina was third on bars (8.95) and Amy Wolf took top honors on bars (9.4) and third on floor (9.0).
Unfortunately the Panthers were without the services of Marissa Bosco, the defending state champion in the floor exercise. Bosco injured one of her knees in the District 87 Invitational on Jan. 12 and is likely out for the season.
While the Panthers won handily, it proved to be quite a crazy day for Glenbard South.
The Raiders began the day with a 3-hour practice as the team thought Monday's meet was actually scheduled for Tuesday. Coach Donna Murphy had to call her gymnasts later in the day, tell them of the error and then gather them up by 3:30.
"I don't know," Murphy laughed. "This was our highest score. I told the girls a lot of them did a lot better with the practice and what they went through today with conditioning. They did a great job."
Michelle Kohout tied for second on vault (9.0) to lead the Raiders.
Freshman Ashley Ellis led the team in all-around performance (32.75).