Glenbard West hears about sectional title
Megan Brennan hadn’t heard such loud cheers all season.
The Glenbard West senior had just put up a 9.6 on vault when she and her teammates were rewarded with a standing ovation by their fans.
The Hilltoppers used a 37.350 effort on vault to propel them to the Lake Park sectional title on Tuesday night. Glenbard West finished with a 145.7 while runner-up Glenbard North had a 144.225.
Now the Hilltoppers will look forward to hearing their fans at the state finals in Palatine on Feb. 18-19.
“I was really excited and I think that was the loudest I’ve heard them cheer all year,” Brennan said. “With this being my senior year I wanted to get my team back to state. Hopefully, we can do well there.”
Glenbard West started relatively strong on beam with a 36.575 but endured some troubles on floor before erasing any doubts that it was their sectional to win with a fantastic effort on vault and then a solid finish on bars.
“I think I was most pleased with how they came back in the second half,” Glenbard West coach Carlos Fuentes said. “They turned it up a notch on vault and just did an outstanding job in standing up to the pressure and then pulling through on bars. They knew what the had to do and stepped up.”
Becky Mladucky and Missy Guzman led the Hilltoppers as the team’s only all-arounders. Mladucky won bars with a 9.525 and was third on beam with a 9.4. Guzman was second on beam with a 9.425.
Shannon Dietz added a 9.175 on bars and Nicole Pagor had a 9.4 on vault.
We talk about how it’s all the tenths that matter so we just work for those little things everyday,” Pagor said. “In the end it pays off like it did today.”
Glenbard North’s bid to return to the state finals came up short. The Panthers’ Amanda Quinn shared top honors in the all-around with DeKalb’s Jessica Morreale with a 37.650. Junior Christina Rini secured the final all-around qualifier with a 36.325 and Melissa Colao was fifth on beam with a 9.325.
“I was really nervous and not sure what I was going to be able to put together,” Rini said. “We could’ve done better. If we could’ve taken away some falls and had done our best on floor we would’ve had a better chance (of advancing as a team).”
Geneva took third with a 138.950. Emily Ott won floor with a 9.475 and teammate Ashley Puff was second with a 9.425.
“We did pretty well today,” Ott said. “For the most part I was pleased.”
York placed fourth with a 134.675, Lake Park was fifth with a 134.475 and Wheaton Warrenville South co-op was sixth with a 133.775.
Lake Park’s Jessica Lewis took fourth on floor with a 9.225 and Fenton freshman Taylor Patton was fifth with a 9.2.