Glenbard West's lineup proves it can be the Best
The annual Illinois Best Invitational can drive a girls gymnastics coach mad.
Because each team only has one all-arounder and one additional gymnast competing in each of the four events, coaches often have difficult decisions to make when penciling in their lineups.
It wasn't a problem for Glenbard West coach Carlos Fuentes on Saturday.
"We knew Missy (Guzman) was going to be our all-arounder," Fuentes said. "Sarah (Udelhofen) won vault two years ago and Shannon (Dietz) won bars (two years ago), so we put them back there."
Dietz came away victorious on bars once again, Udelhofen took second on vault and Guzman placed third in the all-around to help Glenbard West edge West Suburban Silver rival Lyons Twp., 71.975-71.65. St. Charles co-op took third with a 70.275.
"We've always been pretty successful here," Fuentes said. "Having a deep squad really plays to our advantage. Our goal was 18 (per event) and 72 overall and we were right there."
Megan Brennan took third on beam and Nicole Pagor, a JV standout a season ago who is making strong varsity contributions this winter, placed fourth in the floor exercise to round out the scoring for the Hilltoppers.
St. Charles senior Stephanie de la Torriente was edged by Lyons Twp.'s Carolyn Cozza, 36.675-36.575 for the all-around title, but de la Torriente was very pleased with her team's third-place finish.
"We were just here Monday (a 141.10-133.9 dual-meet victory over Wheaton Warrenville South), so we knew how everything felt," she said. "I'm pretty happy with everything today. We have a well-rounded team and everyone puts in a lot of effort."
Megan Brogan tied with Wheaton North co-op's Clair Dresselhouse on beam, and Kaylee Arnold placed third on vault to help St. Charles.
Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley co-op displayed some depth in capturing fourth place with a 69.675. Danielle Christy took sixth in the all-around, while Emily Kelly took second in the floor exercise and Maddie Strick finished second on bars.
Emma Gear won the floor exercise for fifth-place Batavia, and teammate Danae Fuqua posted the seventh best all-around total. Fuqua shined on vault and bars but fell twice on beam.
"It was another chance to compete and another meet for Danae," Batavia coach Taryn Boyce said. "It's a nice atmosphere here and no one's freaking out and we had some good things and some bad things."
The Madden sisters from St. Edward, Jordyn and Abby, placed fourth and fifth, respectively, in the all-around. The competed as individuals, not as a team.
Host Wheaton Warrenville South placed in the top five in vault, beam and bars to help it move up to sixth place.
Sarah Deicke took third on bars and Elizabeth Ciesieski took 11th in the all-around for the Tigers.
"We've got some solid girls back this year and we're still refining some things," Wheaton Warrenville South coach Maureen Latimer said. "Sarah was very good on bars and she's still trying to figure out her routine, so we have some opportunity to still get better."