Mix fitting just right for Glenbard North

There was a little bit of the old and a little bit of the new during Wednesday's DuPage Valley Conference girls gymnastics meet at Glenbard North.

The old would be Glenbard North senior Amber Fox, who placed first on bars and beam and captured second in the floor exercise. The new would be Glenbard North freshman Mariah Matesi, who finished her third varsity meet by winning the floor exercise and taking home an all-around best of 35.6.

The combination of the veteran and rookie gymnast, along with a bit of a makeshift lineup, proved to be enough for the Panthers to defeat Naperville North, 139.6-135.85.

"I knew that I needed to step it up tonight with Christina (Rini) hurt," Matesi said. "I just felt good tonight and my bars were very good."

Rini, who posted an all-around total of 36.05 against St. Charles co-op on Monday, hyperextended her knee on Wednesday while warming up.

"Some JV girls found out at the last minute that they were varsity," Glenbard North first-year coach Lindsay Schultz said. "I thought they handled it nicely."

Erin Panhorst took advantage of the opportunity for the Panthers, tying for second on the vault and performing a floor routine while Elizabeth Bierman filled in on every event save for floor.

Fox, who is competing through the pain of shin splints, was originally going to only compete on bars and beam but ended up putting something together in the floor exercise with Rini out of the lineup.

"I wasn't even supposed to do it but just went out and did my best," Fox said. "That's the nice thing about these meets. It's very relaxed, but still I try to pretend that it's state because I know I need to get better."

It certainly hasn't taken long for the Panthers' prized newcomer to get better.

"She's doing a great job and getting better each meet," Schultz said. "She started flipping her vault tonight. She didn't make it but went for it and that's the big key. And her bar routine was so much better than on Monday."

Karli Gaines won on vault for the Panthers and finished with an all-around total of 33.45. Melissa Colao posted a solid 34.15.

"The team's coming together," Fox said. "When you lose so much it's going to be difficult, but so far, so good."

In what was its season opener, Naperville North's lineup featured nine gymnasts. Senior Kayla Kinder paced the Huskies with an all-around total of 34.2 and had the team's best score on bars and floor.

"I was hoping to get above 135 and I thought that would be a good place to start the season," Naperville North coach Chris Stanicek said. "Kids are new to high school and trying to get a feel, but I was very pleased with the performance tonight."

That included that of a pair of freshmen, Carleigh Turner and Hope Turner. Carleigh scored a 7.65 on bars while Hope had an 8.4 on vault and 8.3 floor routine.

"They did a very good job getting through their sets," Stanicek said. "As freshmen on varsity, that itself adds pressure and they handled it well."

Kate Noreen tied for second on vault and Carolyn Filarski placed third on beam for the Huskies.