Glenbard North catches its breath in victory
One could understand why Glenbard North wasn’t totally focused for its dual meet at Naperville Central on Monday night.
There’s the recent past.
The Panthers were coming off a tremendous weekend in which they dethroned Fremd in the 21st Annual Lincoln-Way Gymnastics Invitational. The Panthers edged the Vikings, winners of the previous 11 invites in Frankfort, 145.275 to 144.775. Furthermore, the Panthers established an invite record on floor, eclipsing a mark that was established in 1998. The Panthers also cruised past Naperville North last week, posting a 145.9 in their first meet since winter break.
Then, there’s the immediate future. The Panthers have a big match-up against Glenbard West in the District 87 meet on Saturday.
“It was our third meet in five days so we were a little flat today,” Glenbard North coach Lindsay Schultz said. “We had a really strong meet last Thursday after having two weeks off and then went into the invite and beat Fremd, which was an exciting thing because they usually win that invite, and we broke the floor record.”
The Panthers didn’t break any records on Monday, but cruised past Naperville Central, 142.05 to 132.3. Individual gymnasts from Plainfield East and Plainfield North also competed.
“The girls were so pumped after Saturday and tonight they all wanted to compete, but you could see it was kind of the aftermath,” Schultz said. “Two greats meet and with finals coming up — I’m not making excuses, but I think its kind of worn on them.”
Amanda Quinn won all four events, posting a 9.65 on vault, 9.5 on floor, 9.3 on bars and 9.1 on beam to finish with an all-around score of 37.55. Mariah Matesi tweaked her ankle a bit during her vault, but still netted a 9.5. Schultz played things safe late in the meet and disallowed Matesi from competing on beam. Matesi did post a 9.1 on bars. Erin Panhorst added a 9.05 on vault and 9 on beam, while senior Melissa Colaos added an 8.8 on floor and 8.65 on beam.
“I think we were maybe looking ahead to the District 87 because we really want to do good there,” Colao said. “Tonight I think we were tired. Having three meets in such a short time is tough, but we’re looking forward to Saturday.”
Perhaps most impressive about the Panthers this winter is they’ve been able to score well without standout senior Karli Gaines, who tore her ACL in the season-opening meet and has been lost for the season.
“I think she’s motivates us more,” Colao said. “We know we have to do whatever we can to get our scores up.”
Naperville Central might not be in the same ballpark as Glenbard North in terms of routine difficulty, but the Redhawks have plenty of reasons to be excited, including the progress of junior Jessie Cruse who took second on floor with a 9.1.
Cruse, who prior to this season last competed in fifth grade, has slowly made her way back.
“Things went really well for me, especially starting out with vault (8.8). I was really happy I stuck that,” Cruse said. “It’s slowly coming back. With competitive cheerleading I knew all the tumbling and everything so now it’s been getting used to competing by myself, which is different.”
Brittany Mitchell led the Redhawks, taking third in the all-around with a 34.2.
“Starting on vault (9.0) was huge because it made me feel better for my other events,” she said. “We’re just working on staying tight and executing, trying to make our whole routines flawless.”
Additionally for the Redhawks, Logan Hassler scored an 8.6 on beam, Grace Ellis added an 8.4 on beam, Vanessa Henry posted an 8.55 on floor and Claire Savard vaulted to an 8.4.