St. Charles gymnasts state bound
Don't try to make plans next weekend with any of the gymnasts on the St. Charles co-op team they're going to be busy.
St. Charles confirmed plans to travel to Palatine next weekend for the state team competition in the IHSA finals by winning Thursday night's Neuqua Valley sectional with a total of 145.275.
St. Charles has now scored in the 145s in three of its last three competitions and it was strong enough to hold off Glenbard North (143.975) and Glenbard West (142.875).
"I knew we could be nervous but I thought we responded well," St. Charles coach Amy Lill said. "Deep down I felt like we had the experience and ability to get to state and it was just a matter of time of putting it together as a team."
Midway through Thursday's sectional, St. Charles found itself in fourth place. There was no reason to panic, because St. Charles still was going to compete its two best events: floor exercise and vault.
"We knew we'd have a chance to catch up," Lill said. "Being able to end on our two highest scoring events really set the tone for us."
Liz Fairweather and Katie Shanel both earned a 9.3 in the floor exercise but it was Stephanie de la Torriente who stole the show with a career-best 9.5. It was a huge relief for the sophomore who fell on beam (8.7).
"I wasn't worried with beam because I knew we still had two events," de la Torriente said. "We expected to be solid on them and that made things a lot better."
De la Torriente also led St. Charles on vault (9.4) and Danielle Goebbert (9.325), Fairweather (9.275) and Shanel (9.225) were right behind her to seal the victory.
St. Charles scored a 37.075 in floor and 37.225 on vault. Both were sectional highs on Thursday.
"I love my team so much," Shanel said. "I wanted to win sectional and go to state and I don't even have words to explain. Wow, my senior year and the team going to state. This is such an awesome accomplishment."
A weak start on beam and a poor closing on bars hurt Glenbard North's chances. When Amber Fox won vault (9.750), the Panthers hoped to ride the momentum toward a sectional championship but it just didn't happen.
"We had to count falls on bars and that's what it really came down to," Glenbard North coach Edsel Clark said. "It's a disappointing end to a season which we had big expectations for and I just hope our seniors remember our highlights not just what happened tonight."
Courtney Gonzales finished third in the all-around (37.175) to lead Glenbard West, she fell on beam and the percentages finally caught up with the Hilltoppers.
"Not every story has a happy ending," Glenbard West coach Carlos Fuentes said. "You have to look at the journey along the way and tonight the law of averages caught up with us on beam (34.475)."
Batavia's record-breaking season came to a halt with a sixth-place finish (137.5). Still, the Bulldogs aren't ending the season feeling sorry for themselves.
"Rachel (Besic) was sick this week and the girls were tired but I can't say anything negative," Batavia coach Taryn Boyce said. "They surpassed everything we had hoped for and the season was simply amazing."
Allesandra Bronzino finished fourth on beam (9.125) to earn a trip to state. Teammate Danae Fuqua qualified on vault (9.35) and floor exercise (9.325).
Sami Piotrowski won on bars (9.525) and floor (9.725) en route to the all-around (37.975) championship. She'll be joined in Palatine by teammate Carolyn Filarski who advanced on bars (9.175)
Geneva senior Katherine Grubaugh closed her high school career with a tough three falls on beam (7.0). But, she also competed on vault where she scored an 9.2 to finish in 14th place. She just fell short of the 9.35 cutoff to earn an at-large qualification.
Several local all-arounders will continue their seasons. Wheaton North's Sarah Beste finished second (37.275), Glenbard East's Andrea Petruniak was fourth (37.1), Glenbard North's Megan Court was fifth (37.025) and Fox was eighth (36.275).
Waubonsie Valley's Cassy Waldman took second on bars (9.425) and tied for fourth on vault (9.425).
Lastly, Glenbard West's Rebecca Stephan advanced on beam (9.1) and Naperville Central's Christina Tardy (9.225), Glenbard North's Christina Rini (9.1) and Neuqua Valley's Heather Summers all will compete in Palatine on bars.