Wave's Madden, Royals' Horne advance

Rolling Meadows found itself looking up at Conant entering the final rotation, as the Mustangs trailed the Cougars by .075 points.

But Meadows put it together at the end nipping Conant 136.10-134.95 to pull out the Schaumburg girls gymnastics regional title on Thursday night.

Schaumburg took third with 133.75 points followed by the Elgin/Larkin co-op (114.40).

St. Edward's Jordyn Madden competed individually and the freshman came up big taking first with a career best 9.525 on the vault and also adding a first on the bars (9.10).

Madden also took fifth on the floor (9.0) and finished fourth in the all-around (35.70) despite two falls on the beam.

"For her to come in this strong is awesome," said St. Edward coach Douglas Bucholz.

The freshman admitted to being a bit nervous before her first post-season performance but gained a bit of momentum after her bar routine.

"I usually struggle on bars but I nailed it tonight," added Madden of her first event. "I felt really relaxed after that routine."

Elgin/Larkin sophomore Ashley Horne took fourth on the beam (8.975) and placed sixth on the bars (8.2), floor (8.925), and all-around (34.850).

"It definitely was shaky, but hopefully going into sectionals I'll be able to hit on my routines," said Horne who is assured of advancing on beam and should be solid for an at large on the bars, floor, and all-around. "There were some mix-ups, but it's just one meet and I can clean things up."

Sectional competition will be Tuesday at Lake Park.

Rolling Meadows scored a 35.125 on the beam highlighted by senior Jen Anderson who took first with a 9.45 to nail down the title on the final rotation.

"We needed to go 5-for-5 on the beam and we did," said Rolling Meadows coach Mike Costa whose team's last regional title was in 1997. "The kids came out this week ready to compete."

Conant also looks to be in good shape to advance with the top at-large score with only the Palatine regional remaining.