Ott, Geneva starting strong again
In gymnastics the word “broke” often means something bad.
That wasn't the case in Wednesday night's Upstate Eight Conference triangular between Batavia, Geneva and Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley co-op in Naperville.
Geneva senior Emily Ott broke her own school-record in the floor exercise, eclipsing her 9.5 from last winter with a 9.6.
Ott's performance helped Geneva win the triangular with a 137.025. Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley co-op was the runner-up with a 134.45 while Batavia finished with a 118.75. Three individuals for St. Edward also competed and Abbey Madden won the all-around title with a 36.625.
“That was exciting for Emily to break the school record that she set last year,” Geneva coach Kim Hostman said. “And she didn't do her double today so again she's got some skills and stumbled a bit out of her front full so she has some room to cleanup, but we're really excited with those scores.”
Ott's record-breaking effort in the floor exercise somewhat overshadowed the finish by Ashley Puff who registered a 9.55 in the event before closing her night with a team-best 9.15 on the vault. Sophomore Haley Carroll also shined for the Vikings, winning the beam with a 9.35.
“To get a 137 already and know we can still clean up a lot of stuff is real exciting because we haven't broke that 140 ever in the history of Geneva,” Hostman said. “So we'll be really close to getting it with starting the season this strong.”
Competing for the fourth time this season, Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley approached the 135-mark even though it was without the services of Nina Brandenburg who had prior commitment and Jessica Malon who remains sidelined with an injury.
The team was able to compensate for their absence thanks especially to the strong performance of Maddie Strick. The junior finished second in the all-around with a 35.75, earning a 9.25 on the vault and a pair of 9.3s in the floor exercise and on beam where she set a personal record.
“I was very pleased with that and her great leaps and jumps have gotten much higher,” Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley coach Nicole Daly said. “She's definitely stepping up.”
Freshman Jordyn Penny finished third on bars for the Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley with an 8.75.
Sophomore Sarah Ganster led the Bulldogs with a 32.25 in the all-around. Ganster had Batavia's best score in every event except for beam where Brittany Whalen posted a 7.6.
“Our vault was decent, floor is looking good and beam is looking good too except for our falls,” Batavia coach Taryn Boyce said. “Once we start staying on beam we'll be good there and then we'll get to working better on bars.”
On her way to winning the all-around for St. Edward, Madden won the vault with a 9.475 and bars with an 8.95.
“She's come back with a little more fire and we're hoping both Abbey and Jordyn (Madden) can make the state finals in two events,” St. Edward coach Doug Bucholz said.
“We're really just pushing for that.”