Glenbard North holds on tight

Just call them the patient Panthers.

Last week the Glenbard North girls gymnastics team had to wait three days to find out if it would compete in the IHSA state finals.

Now the Panthers will have to wait one more day to see if they can hold onto third place in the finals at Palatine High School.

Glenbard North holds a narrow lead over Carmel at 146.525 points to 146.425, but the Panthers also have to be concerned with Fremd (146.375) and Lyons (146.025). Stevenson (148.550) appears to have a big enough lead to beat Sandburg (147.775) and the rest of the competition.

"After the day we had I can't believe we're in the position we're in," Glenbard North coach Edsel Clark said. "It was ups and downs. The girls will keep my heart pounding for the next 24 hours, and I credit all my gray hairs to them."

Junior Amber Fox led the Panthers, finishing sixth in floor exercise, eighth on beam and ninth on bars. She'll try to boost the team's score by competing in those three events in the championship finals tonight. Senior Marissa Bosco took sixth on vault and will also compete.

Glenbard North found itself in third place once the afternoon session concluded but counted three falls on beam to open Session II.

"After beam we weren't sure how things would end up," Bosco said. "We thought if we could hit all five then maybe we'd have a chance for third place. We weren't happy with how it went, but once we found out we had third it was a good feeling."

The Panthers closed out beam with strong finishes by Emily Ryan (9.25), Fox (9.475) and Bosco (9.35).

"Floor was really good. We only had one fall and that's going to happen," Fox said. "We huddled, and maybe we should've done that before beam, and we basically told each other that we have to do really good and show it off to the judges."

Glenbard West was well-represented as Sarah Udelhofen tied for ninth on the vault and Becky Mladucky tied for 10th in the all-around. Mladucky's best finish came on beam where she finished tied for first with a 9.425.

"I've been working on beam a lot and never made a routine fully as a freshman," Mladucky said. "It was good to go out there tonight and be able to stick it."

Wheaton co-op sophomore Angie Cronk posted a 35.50 in the all-around in her state debut. She sustained an injury during her floor routine but finished that event and beam.

"It was a good experience for her and hopefully she can come back here again," Wheaton co-op coach Lee Wood said.

A couple of juniors who have battled injuries this season were the lone but proud representatives from their respective schools. Waubonsie Valley's Danielle Christy scored a 9.5 on vault and Neuqua Valley's Catherine Miller earned a 9.15 on bars.