Batavia wins 1st Larkin title

The bars aren't usually Batavia's strongest event.

The Bulldogs, however, needed them to be.

After leading Riverside-Brookfield entering the final rotation of Saturday's 25th annual Larkin Royal Varsity Gymnastic Invitational, all Batavia had to do was stick the bars.

Senior Rachel Besic turned in one of the top performances on the day as the final competitor on bars with a 9.2 to give Batavia its first championship at Larkin in 18 years of competition. Batavia (137.650) maintained its lead over second-place R-B (136.925). Wheaton North (136.550) took third, followed by Wheaton Warrenville South (135.475) and Neuqua Valley (135.075).

"I hadn't been doing well on bars," said Besic, who placed fourth on the event. "This is the first time I went over 9. We wanted to hit bars."

Besic finished fourth in the all-around (9.050), winning the vault (9.700). The Bulldogs, who finished second last year and third in 2007, were without all-arounder Danae Fuqua (pneumonia).

In her absence, sophomore Alessandra Bronzino gave an outstanding performance, earning a 9.2 and sixth place in the event.

"Floor is my favorite event," Bronzino said. "After my first and second tumbling runs I was relieved. I just wanted to finish up strong."

Emma Gear added 11th place in the all-around (34.90), which included an 8.5 on the bars.

"The bars is the hardest event for us," Batavia coach Taryn Boyce said. "It's one of our tougher events as a team."

Wheaton North was able to rebound after a rough start on the beam to finish in third. The Falcons finished first as a team in both the vault (35.300) and bars (35.025) to help erase a 31.850 to open the day on bars. Angie Cronk (9.6) finished second on vault and fifth on bars (9.15)

"We had five falls on the beam," Wheaton North coach Lee Wood said. "Bars saved the day."

The all-around competition was just as intense as the team race.

Buffalo Grove's Linda Dunne (37.100) won the title, with R-B's duo of Becca O'Neal (36.950) and Samantha Brown (36.675) finishing second and third.

After Besic, South Elgin/Bartlett/Streamwood Co-op's Emily Potts was fifth (35.950) followed by Elk Grove's Kim Gulik (35.850).

Although without a team, St. Edward freshman Jordyn Madden earned some of the highest audience applause of the day. Madden finished tied with Wheaton North's Allie Hetrick (35.150) for seventh place in the all-around. The Green Wave freshman nailed a 9.4 to take fourth on the vault and 9.150 to take fifth on the beam.

"I was very confident because I do well with the vault in practice," Madden said.