Group effort helps Panthers wear DVC crown

Glenbard North had its lowest team score in two seasons and didn't have a top-three finisher in the all-around.

But depth and consistency prevailed as the Panthers won their second straight DuPage Valley Conference girls gymnastics championship at Naperville Central on Friday with a score of 142.225.

Naperville North's Sami Piotrowski and Wheaton North's Sarah Beste tied for the all-around title at 37.875. Andrea Petruniak of Glenbard East scored 36.475, and the conference champion Panthers provided the next three finishers, Amber Fox, Meghan Court and Kristin Nordquist.

"Our team has been blessed with talent across the board," said Glenbard North coach Edsel Clark. "We're good from the first person up to the last person up. But for what we're capable of, this was not a good night for us. We still have a lot of work to do. But you're always satisfied with a win, good, bad or ugly."

Clark, however, was happy with some of the individual performances.

"Nordquist was consistently solid in all four events, and that's what gets the team trophy," Clark said. "And this was the first time Fox hit her vault all year. That boosted the team and got us all excited."

The two all-around champions split leadership in the four events with Piotrowski winning the balance beam and the vault, and Beste taking first in the balance beam and the floor exercise.

Piotrowski's 9.675 in the vault and Beste's 9.625 in the floor exercise were the high scores on the night.

Piotrowski, who has battled back all season from a shoulder injury, was generally pleased with her scores, but she's determined to make her uneven bar routine, which is most affected by the shoulder injury, better with regionals and sectionals coming in the next two weeks.

"If I keep improving at the rate I have been improving, I think I can get my score in the bars up," Piotrowski said. "I'm working on a different dismount and I want to have that by sectionals."

"Sami was on fire tonight," said Naperville North coach Chris Stanicek. "She hit her beam, and her floor is always exciting. This is what I expect from her. She always delivers in big meets."

Beste, a senior, is in her first year of high school gymnastics after three years of competing exclusively in club.

"I'm really excited," Beste said. "Everything went according to what I wanted. Floor was my best event, and I was happy with my beam because I've been having trouble with that."

Wheaton North coach Chad Downie thinks both Beste and Piotrowski will be contenders for the state all-around title.

"You're looking at two of the best all-arounders in the state," Downie said. "Sami is great fun to watch, and Sarah's lines are beautiful. It just shows you what great talent we have in the DVC."

Wheaton North was second in the team standings with 138.925, just ahead of the Huskies, who scored a 138.075.