Scouting DuPage County girls gymnastics teams
Top teams: Glenbard North, Glenbard West, Lake Park, Neuqua Valley, Wheaton co-op.
Top individuals: Kendyl Berger (Waubonsie Valley, So., all-around), Marissa Bosco (Glenbard North, Sr., all-around), Kate Bruno (Naperville Central, Sr., all-around) Danielle Christy (Waubonsie Valley, Jr., all-around), Kelsey Coleman (Lake Park, Sr., all-around), Amber Fox (Glenbard North, Jr., all-around), Sara Hampton (Willowbrook, Sr., all-around) Allie Hetrick (Wheaton Co-op, Jr., all-around), Melissa Horgan (Lake Park, Sr., all-around), Michelle Kohout (Glenbard South, Jr., all-around), Kirsten McCoy (Naperville Central, Sr. all-around), Megan McLerran (Naperville North, Sr., all-around), Kristen McWilliams (Glenbard South, Sr., all-around), Catherine Miller (Neuqua Valley, Jr., all-around), Becky Mladucky (Glenbard West, So., all-around), Ashley Nelson (Lake Park, Jr., all-around), Cassidy Peterson (Wheaton Warrenville South, Sr., all-around), Christina Rini (Glenbard North, So., all-around), Jeni Scahill (Willowbrook, Sr., all-around), Stacy Rosch (Glenbard West, Jr., all-around), Heather Summers (Neuqua Valley, Jr. all-around), Sarah Udelhofen (Glenbard West, Jr., all-around), Stephanie Werly (Wheaton Co-op, Sr., all-around), Amy Wolf (Glenbard North, Sr., vault, floor, bars). Kinnari Badger (Glenbard West, Fr., all-around), Paige Bloodgood (Naperville North, Fr., all-around), Angela Cronk (Wheaton co-op, Fr., all-around), Shauna Gialluisi (Glenbard West, Fr., all-around), Missy Guzman (Glenbard West, Fr., all-around), Nicole Pagor (Glenbard West, Fr., all-around), Maria Pizzo (Waubonsie Valley, So., vault, beam, floor), Emily Ryan (Glenbard North, Fr., all-around), Lacy VanDenend (Glenbard South, Fr., all-around).
Top meets: Al Galatte Invite, Dec. 6; Downers Grove North Invite, Dec. 6; Candy Cane Invite, Dec. 13; Wheaton Warrenville South Best Invite, Dec. 20; Maine West Invite Dec. 30; Oswego Invite, Dec. 30; Neuqua Valley Invite, Jan. 17; Palatine-Fremd Invite, Jan. 17; York Invite Jan. 24.
Outlook: The past two seasons have been filled with plenty of highlights for Glenbard North, but they both ended in disappointment. In 2006 after the most successful team in 22 years advanced to state, the Panthers fell apart on bars and beams and finished in ninth place. Last year Marissa Bosco got hurt and the team failed to advance out of the Neuqua Valley sectional. Although Kristin Nordquist and Megan Court were lost to graduation, Bosco is healthy for her senior year, along with fellow senior Amy Wolf, junior Amber Fox, sophomore Christina Rini and standout freshman Emily Ryan. The Panthers should once again be one of the better teams in the state. "We're not 100 percent right now but we don't need to be," coach Edsel Clark said. "We have a pretty positive outlook on the season, and we're hoping to peak at a better time than we have the last couple of years." Glenbard West should be very strong once again. While the Hilltoppers saw four of their top gymnasts graduate they have four incoming freshmen who are expected to contribute, along with the return of juniors Sarah Udelhofen and Stacy Rosch and sophomores Megan Brennan, Shannon Dietz and Becky Mladucky. "The four freshmen have been working in our summer program and are looking forward to joining the team and contributing," Hilltoppers coach Carlos Fuentes said "They're all all-arounders, but we'll tinker with the lineup and around Christmas and the New Year get our all-star lineup other there." Neuqua Valley and Wheaton co-op both have new coaches in Lee Wood and Mike Kaplan, respectively, and both are expected to have competitive teams this winter. "We have a majority of girls back and I'm very excited with where we can go and what we'll prove," Wood said. "I think we're very well-stacked varsity-wise, and that's a good feeling and I have expectations of a 140 or higher." As for Neuqua Valley, if the Wildcast can get healthy, they should score well. "We have some chronic injuries but are looking forward to getting healthy and adding to our routines," Kaplan said. "If we can do that we should have a pretty strong team." Lake Park lost standout sophomore Sam Millikan to a broken leg. She's unlikely to return this season, so senior captains Kelsey Coleman and Melissa Horgan and junior Ashley Nelson will be leaned on heavily. "We're not as deep as we'd like to be but we still like our talent and our chances with this group of girls," Lancers coach Keith Matune said. "They work extremely hard and these seniors have done very well for us since they were freshmen.'" Willowbrook could make some noise this season with three key returnees, including Jeni Scahill. Naperville North and Glenbard East will learn how to compete without Sami Piotrowski and Andrea Petruniak, respectively, two standouts who graduated. Naperville North does have Megan McClerran and Carolyn Filarski returning. The roster at Glenbard South is small, but Kristen McWilliams should lead the Raiders, as will Michelle Kohout if she can stay healthy. Waubonsie Valley begins the season with its top two gymnasts - Danielle Christy and Kendyl Berger - out with injuries. "They both trained hard in the off-season and learned a lot of skills," Waubonsie Valley coach Lacy Woulfe said.
- Chris Walker