Even shorthanded, Addison Trail wins at Lake Park

The Addison Trail and Glenbard East boys gymnastics teams weren't at full strength on Friday night, but the Blazers proved to be the strongest of the six teams in the Lake Park Invite.

Addison Trail won a 136.260 while the runner-up Rams posted a 132.950. Willowbrook took third with a 119.450, Lake Park was fourth with a 118.50, Fenton was fifth with a 106.620 and Glenbard South closed in sixth place with a 100.150.

Before the invite started the Blazers knew they were going to compete without injured senior Gianni Levato. After it began they lost Antonio Fiasche to an injury on vault. But, led by the all-around efforts of freshman Matt Foster, who took second place with a 54.110 and won pommel horse with a 9.45, the Blazers were able to come out on top.

"I was very happy with the results, especially with Gianni (Levato) out and then losing Antonio (Fiasche)," said Addison Trail coach Mike Galfi. "We competed a lot of events with only three people so it shows our depth and the willingness we have to come together."

Notable contributions for the Blazers included Dan Smith taking fourth on high bar, Alex Oliva's fifth-place effort on pommel horse, Justin Callos tying for sixth on vault and Humberto Aguilar taking seventh on still rings.

Glenbard East seniors John Lodywick and Sean Olsen were away on college visits. Their absence made it difficult for the Rams to challenge Addison Trail for the title.

"If I had them here I think we might've been able to pull over them, but those guys had a good meet too," said Glenbard East coach Lee Wood. "We were still a little higher than I expected, so that's good, and Bryan Delprado had a great night so it was nice to see him on the award stand and get to experience how that feels."

Delprado was fourth on parallel bars and sixth on pommel horse. Sondro Serrano took sixth on still rings, and senior Kirk Jackson, who won the floor exercise, parallel bars and vault, led the Rams. He finished third in the all-around with a 54.05.

"I didn't have as good of a meet as I wanted," Jackson said. "The changes are still coming around. I think I did pretty good, but I know I still have areas to make improvements."

Nikko Winstead finished in the top three in every event, including an breathtaking 9.7 win on high bar, to win the all-around title with a 54.3 and help Willowbrook edge Lake Park for third place.

"It feels good," he said. "Coming here I thought I'd get third because I know Matt (Foster) and Kirk (Jackson) are very talented guys. I guess it was my day tonight."

Lake Park's Eric Bando won the still rings with an 8.4. The Lancers continue to show improvements with their young team as Sam Flory took fourth on pommel horse and Shaun O'Leary was fifth on high bar.

"We're coming off a very good week," said Lake Park coach Keith Matune. "We went from a 109 two weeks ago to 115 Monday and now up to 118."

Fenton's Eric Owusu tied for fifth on parallel bars, Norman Vitallaro was fifth on vault and Chris Koch took sixth in the floor exercise.

Tom DiCarlo took fourth place in the floor exercise and fifth on still rings, and A.J. Distefano was fifth in the floor exercise for Glenbard South.