Scouting DuPage County girls gymnastics
By Chris Walker
Daily Herald Correspondent
Top teams: Glenbard North, Glenbard West, Hinsdale Central, Naperville North, Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley co-op. Top returning individuals: Paige Bloodgood (Naperville North, Jr., all-around), Megan Brennan (Glenbard West, Sr., beam, floor exercise, vault), Sarah Deicke (Wheaton Warrenville South co-op, Jr., all-around), Carrie Deveney (Naperville Central, Sr., beam), Ashley Ellis (Glenbard South, Sr., all-around), Karli Gaines (Glenbard North, Jr., all-around), Jessica Griffin (Glenbard East, Jr., all-around), Kristen Grilli (Hinsdale Central, Jr., all-around), Missy Guzman (Glenbard West, Jr., all-around), Jaime Kay (Naperville Central, So., vault), Morgan Knight (Neuqua Valley Sr., all-around), Jessica Malon (Waubonsie/Metea Valley co-op, So., all-around), Becky Mladucky (Glenbard West, Sr., all-around), Erin Morgan (Hinsdale Central, So., all-around), Kate Noreen (Naperville North, Sr., balance beam, floor exercise, vault), Christina Rini (Glenbard North, Sr., all-around), Bronte Southworth (Downers Grove North, Sr., all-around), Maddie Strick (Waubonsie/Metea Valley co-op, Jr., all-around), Leah Tarabour (Hinsdale Central, Sr., all-around), Kristina Terry (Wheaton Warrenville South Co-op, Sr., all-around), Erin Usher (Hinsdale Central, Sr., all-around), Melissa Zygowicz (Addison Trail, So., bars, beam).
Top meets: Big Purple Invite at Downers Grove North, Dec. 4, Al Galatte Invite at Rolling Meadows, Dec. 4; The Michael Meyer Candy Cane Invite at Hersey, Dec. 11; Illinois Best Invite at Wheaton Warrenville South co-op, Dec. 18; Panther Invite at Oswego, Dec. 28; Naperville North Invite, Jan. 8; Fremd Invite, Jan. 15; Neuqua Valley Invite, Jan 15; York Invite, Jan. 22; DVC championship, Jan. 28; UEC championship, Jan. 29; WSC Silver championship, Jan. 29.
Outlook: If you’re around Glenbard West and Hinsdale Central this winter, you’ll undoubtedly here someone mutter “this could be our year.” Last season the Hilltoppers placed fifth in the state with a 145.650, while the Red Devils were right behind them at 144.025. Both teams are seasoned and with such veteran leadership and proven success, not only could this be a year when both teams compete for a state trophy, time also could be running out for both squads. Glenbard West has the dynamic trio of senior specialists Megan Brennan and Shannon Dietz and all-arounder Becky Mladucky back to the lead the team, along with junior all-arounders Missy Guzman and Nicole Pagor, as well as Shauna Gialluisi. sophomore Abbie Garchitorena and freshman all-arounder Maggie Phillips. “This group now has been the underdog and has been one of the top dogs being chased,” Glenbard West coach Carlos Fuentes said. “They’ve been in big meets, high-pressure meets and has the kind of depth to help achieve its goals.” The Hilltoppers have been working on their degree of difficulty and bonuses during the off-season, so they’ll be looking to fine tune everything during the regular season. “We won’t be struggling to add things at the end of the year; we already have them,” Fuentes said. “Now it’s just cleaning up the little parts and keeping the bodies healthy.” Hinsdale Central returns senior all-arounders Maggie Glavin, Leah Tarabour and Erin Usher, junior all-arounder Kristen Grilli, sophomore all-arounder Erin Morgan and welcomes the addition of freshman Cayle Brenk. “We’ve got high expectations and we just need to put it together and if we do so I think we’ll have another good year,” Hinsdale Central coach Kim Estoque said. “The whole goal is to make it to state again and to do well at state.” The two teams will battle with Lyons Township once again in the super-competitive West Suburban Conference Silver Division.
Another team looking to return to state is Glenbard North, which placed seventh in the state last February. The Panthers lost Amber Fox to graduation and Mariah Matesi chose club over the high school team this winter, but Christina Rina leads a group of talented returning gymnastics. “Each girl brings strengths to different events,” Glenbard North coach Lindsay Schultz said. “They have increased their level of difficulty on most events and are anxious for the season to begin.” The Panthers also expect big things out of junior newcomer Amanda Quinn, who is expected to contribute as an all-arounder.
Team captain Kate Noreen will lead a Naperville North team that returns Paige Bloodgood and Hope Turner. “This team is lacking depth, which means each gymnast will have to step up their game both in practice and competition,” Naperville North coach Chris Stanicek said. “We have a talented group of gymnasts, but each understands that their contributions to the success of the season is important.”
Naperville Central will try to surpass last season’s top score of 129.65. More than a half-dozen new gymnasts will have opportunities for the Redhawks. “With two returners from last season and one from freshman year, the two upperclassmen will have to take charge of mentoring the team,” Naperville Central coach Glen Reimers said.
Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley co-op has reason to be excited with Maddie Strick, Laura Burns, Jess Malon and Jordyn Penny on its roster. “We have a ton of potential and hope to qualify for sectional which we didn’t do last year,” co-op coach Nicole Daly said. “They’ll be adding the level of difficulty and skills in a few weeks and have a lot of potential.”
There’s a new team this winter in Wheaton Warrenville South co-op as the Wheaton North co-op team is now part of the Wheaton Warrenville South co-op. The team should be interesting to watch as Kristina Terry from West Chicago joins the new squad, juniors Sarah Deicke and Emily Cook will return from injuries and freshman Sarah Bradley is expected to be make an immediate impact.
The dissolving of the Wheaton North co-op helped send coach Lee Wood to Glenbard South, where he takes over the program from Donna Murphy. “I feel like it’s a happy home, and we have almost 30 girls who are excited with what I can share,” Wood said. Multi-sport athlete Ashley Ellis is back for her senior season for the Raiders, and juniors Mary Kate Sippel and Lacy VanDenend also return.
Graduation hit Neuqua Valley pretty hard. Morgan Knight is back for the Wildcats, but one should expect to see plenty of new faces in the gym this season. “We’ve got some rebuilding to do this year, so it’ll be interesting to watch our progress,” Neuqua Valley coach Christine Clark said.
Former Glenbard West assistant Jake Lutekin takes over for Keith Matune at Lake Park. “It’s a young group of girls who we hope will be a foundation for future teams,” Lutekin said. “I expect to qualify a few girls to the state meet and hope to be one of the top teams in the regional.” Sophomore all-arounders Kayla Goodwin and Jessica Lewis should pace the Lancers.
Junior Jessica Griffin is back to lead Glenbard East. The Rams also return seniors Bonnie DeBatty, Kelsey Kovach and Amanda Rogalske and sophomore Jamie Gradishar.
Chris Walker