Batavia wins at Glenbard West sectional

The Batavia girls gymnastics team knew that if it didn't win Monday's Glenbard West sectional that it would be stuck waiting until Thursday's final sectional to see if it qualified for the state competition as an at-large team.

It turns out that the only thing Batavia will have to wait for is Friday and Saturday, Feb. 20-21 because that's when the state finals will take place in Palatine. Forget about sitting around for the next 72 hours wondering if this is the year, Batavia's going to state this year as a sectional winner.

Batavia shocked Glenbard North and host Glenbard West, breaking its school record for team score for the seventh time in the past two years with a 146.025. The Panthers nestled into second place with a 145.725 while the Hilltoppers closed the meet with a 144.1.

Batavia earned the school's first ever trip to the state finals in girls gymnastics.

"It's hard to get a group of kids this talented all at one time and all do as well at one time as they just did," Batavia coach Taryn Boyce said. "They're a lot of people who fail under pressure, but they came in as underdogs. Our goal was 144 and hoping to make it as at-large. Now I won't be able to sleep tonight."

Junior Danae Fuqua led Batavia by capturing third place in the all-around. The Bulldogs survived on bars, which Fuqua won with a 9.3, received third and fourth place efforts on beam from seniors Alessandra Bronzino and Becca Thone before closing with brilliant performances on the floor exercise (37.8) and vault (37.6).

"We got past bars and beam which were pretty solid and then we knew we had floor and vault and could go out and have fun and do it," Fuqua said. "I think our confidence was just up tonight and we knew if we put all our routines together we knew we could be that team (to go to state)."

Sophomore Emma Gear won the floor exercise and tied for fourth on vault with teammate Rachel Besic for Batavia.

"It feels fantastic knowing we're the first team to go to sectional and state as a team," Gear said. "We've accomplished so much and this feels just great."

Thanks to standout finishes from junior Amber Fox and senior Marissa Bosco, Glenbard North remains in the hunt for an at-large team qualifier. Fox won the all-around with a 37.9 while Bosco was second with a 37.1.

"We got second as opposed to third which helps with the waiting game," Glenbard North coach Edsel Clark said. "A 145.725 should go, and if it doesn't then there were better teams out there that deserved it and hit on their sectional night."

Clark doesn't know exactly why the Panthers couldn't match the 148.775 they posted in their regional last Monday, but cited possible overconfidence and Bosco's freak accident on bars.

"We were flying high and then Marissa's hand slipped on bars," he said. "Fortunately she's healthy but that shook up the team. She finished her routine and if she doesn't do that and if Amber and Marissa don't finish 1-2 on beam ... those performances saved us and for somebody as tough as Marissa to get shaken up and come through when the team needs her that says a lot about her ability to push through."

Christina Rini took third on bars for the Panthers.

Glenbard West wasn't perfect, but the Hilltoppers connected on 17 of their 20 events, which pleased coach Carlos Fuentes.

"The scores weren't there where we wanted them to be but we had 17 great routines and just needed 3 more," he said. "We're still young so we can do some things in the next couple years, but our goal was to get there this year."

In fact, the Hilltoppers' 144.1 is a better score than the 143.375 the team posted in 2005 when it last advanced to state.

"There is still a shot," Fuentes said. "It's still a 144 and you never know how scores will play out."

Regardless, the Hilltoppers will represent well in Palatine after Becky Mladucky placed fifth in the all-around and fourth on beam, Sarah Udelhofen tied for fourth on vault, Missy Guzman took fifth in the floor exercise and Megan Brennan tied for second in the floor exercise with a 9.475.

St. Charles Co-op's bid for a second consecutive state trip in all likelihood fell short as the team finished with a 140 to take fourth place. Senior Liz Fairweather made a strong bid to continue her career by placing sixth in the all-around with a 36.2.

Other local gymnasts who earned a trip to the state competition include Wheaton North Co-op's Angie Cronk, who qualified in the all-around and beam, Waubonsie Valley's Danielle Christy who placed third on vault, Neuqua Valley's Catherine Miller, who took fifth on bars, and South Elgin/Bartlett/Streamwood Co-op's Emily Potts who placed second on bars.

A handful of other gymnasts remain alive for at-large qualifiers. That list includes but is not limited to, Wheaton Warrenville South's Shannon Nevins and Cassidy Peterson, Waubonsie Valley's Kendyl Berger and Naperville North's Carolyn Filarski.