Geneva claims its first regional title
Emily Ott's shins were feeling pretty good on Friday night. Unfortunately she had to battle a severe cold and sinus infection.
Regardless of how she felt, she wasn't going to miss the Geneva regional.
Ott edged Leyden's Elizabeth Reed, 35.750 to 35.250 to win the all-around, but more importantly for Ott and the Vikings, her scores helped Geneva make school history for the second consecutive week. Last Saturday, the Vikings established a school-record score while winning the Upstate Eight Conference meet. On Friday, the Vikings won their first regional title.
Geneva finished with a 137.350, easily ahead of runner-up St. Charles Co-op's 132.525. Leyden clipped Glenbard South, 127.35 to 127.275 for third place and Geneseo was fifth with a 99.575.
“It's such a great honor for the school and the program,” Geneva coach Kim Hostman said. “I was a little concerned with how we started out on bars, but the girls finished strong and really pushed through on beam.”
Sophomore Ashley Puff was the only other all-arounder to compete for the Vikings and she also advanced to next Tuesday's Lake Park sectional as an individual, placing fourth with a 34.675. Ott won beam with a 9.325 and floor with a 9.15.
“I'm a little sick today but I was able to pull through,” Ott said. “It was different finishing on beam, but it was awesome.”
The Vikings received several nice contributions. Freshman Claire Scatterday took second on beam with a 9.1 and had an 8.225 on bars, sophomore Haley Carroll had an 8.525 on floor and seniors Blythe Boyle, Alycia Hostman and Erin Kluck all came up big in their final home meet. Boyle had an 8.525 on vault, Kluck's floor earned her an 8.275 and Hostman had an 8.05 on vault and 8.175 on beam.
St. Charles co-op didn't have the services of standout Kaylee Arnold who remained sidelined with an injury. so it wasn't able to really challenge Geneva for the team title. Meredith Beird led the way for St. Charles, winning bars with an 8.675. Teammates Andrea Schwartz (bars), Kristen Sheehan (vault), Jesi Ortiz (floor) and Sidney Copeland (beam) all advanced to the Lake Park sectional. Copeland just missed advancing in the all-around, placing sixth with a 33.15 but remains alive for an at-large bid which won't be determined until all the regionals are completed by late Monday night.
“We only had once practice since (the UEC),” St. Charles co-op coach Amy Lill said. “It's disappointing but they went out there and did the best they could so they really can't be upset.”
Mary Kate Sippel took fourth in the all-around to lead Glenbard South. The junior also advanced on beam, bars and floor, where she finished her evening by taking second place with a 9.
“The floor was hard so I was just happy to land all of my passes,” Sippel said. “On beam I hadn't stuck a routine so it was nice, for once, to land my back tuck.”