Seniors power Glenbard North to unbeaten dual campaign

Glenbard North celebrated the careers of its five seniors and completed an undefeated DuPage Valley Conference season while South Elgin/Bartlett/Streamwood Co-op enjoyed its final tune-up for Friday's Upstate Eight Conference meet during Monday's girls gymnastics triangular with Wheaton Co-op in Carol Stream.

The Panthers were originally scheduled to face Wheaton Co-op on Jan. 7 but the meet was postponed due to adverse weather conditions.

Glenbard North scored a season-best 146.9 to win the meet. South Elgin/Bartlett/Streamwood took second with a 141.05 and Wheaton Co-op finished with a 115.250.

"We wanted the 147 but there was no pressure. We still have time to get up there," said Glenbard North's Amber Fox, who won the all-around with a 37.95. "This was the first meet, too, where everyone who could compete did. Sometimes we'd do just a few events and tonight we all went to see where we are."

Fox also won the floor exercise with a 9.6 and tied for top honors on the beam with a 9.45.

"I did the best I could," Fox said. "I didn't have any big mess-ups and this was the first time in a dual meet that I competed all events so it was good to end like this."

Although it was senior night, the Panthers will compete at home again when they host a regional next Wednesday. Still, the team honored the careers of Fox and fellow seniors, Michelle Drag, Lindsey Labant, Alex Kapsalis and Jessica Wojciak.

The Panthers received strong performances from especially Christina Rini, Mariah Matesi and Karli Gainers. Rini won bars with a 9.5, took second on floor with a 9.55 and the all-around with a 37.35. Matesi placed third on vault and floor with a 9.2 and 9.35 respectively. Gaines finished with a solid all-around total of 35.1.

Competing for the fourth time in seven days, South Elgin/Bartlett/Streamwood Co-op has been using a busy meet schedule as much as practice to get ready for conference and the state series.

"We've been doing a great job of training on the spot and adding more difficulty each meet," South Elgin/Bartlett/Streamwood Co-op coach Amy August said. "Hopefully by Friday we'll have a week of practice in and be ready to go."

Emily Potts and Taeopae Wetterman led South Elgin/Bartlett/Streamwood Co-op. Potts won vault with a 9.6, took third on bars with a 9.1 and finished with a 36.750 in the all-around. Wetterman was successful in all three of her events, including on beam where she tied for first with a 9.45.

"Today went really well. I hit all three events just like I wanted," Wetterman said. "I've been very consistent lately and am pretty confident with what I'm doing."

Wheaton North Co-op finished winless in the DuPage Valley Conference, but the team has continued to make strides with a young team that's getting better with experience.

"We've gone from a 104 to start all the way up to almost a 120 this season," Wheaton Co-op coach Lee Wood said. "We've made significant progress and we've done better than I thought we would in such a short time."

Claire Dresselhaus, Jen Florian, Faith Ritchie and Kristina Terry all competed as all-arounders for Wheaton Co-op with Terry leading the way with a 34. Dresselhaus led the team on beam with an 8.8.