St. Charles co-op edges Geneva

Just a couple years ago, Claire Ginsberg was the newcomer.

After winning an all-around state title as a freshman and leading the team to second place as a team as a sophomore, you have to wonder what she'll accomplish next.

And then she does it.

Ginsberg broke her own school record on floor exercise, scoring a 9.8 during Monday's triangular in Oswego against St. Charles co-op and Oswego co-op.

Still, it wasn't enough to lead the Vikings to victory as St. Charles co-op outscored them, 140.95 to 139.5 while Oswego co-op had a 130.05.

"Claire did amazing as usual, and even with watered down routines she still had a very good meet," Geneva coach Kim Hostman said. "Last year we had a 137 in our first meet so to get a 139 to start is really amazing for us."

Ginsberg added new, more upbeat choreography to her floor routine, but has maintained the same passes. Debuting it on Monday, she was spectacular.

"It's the only real thing I've changed this year," she said. "I still might add new passes. I've just tried to clean everything up to try to be better than last year."

While it's unknown how many times someone has scored better than a 9.8 on floor during the regular season, only four gymnastics have done it in IHSA state series history.

Again, she's continuing to move into select company.

Ginsberg also won vault (9.6) and bars (9.25). She was third on beam with a 9.3.

Other top scores for the Vikings included Paige Beitzel's 8.85 on vault, Grace DeVita's 8.05 on bars, Kelly Frank's 8.3 on beam, Molly Lambillotte's 9.3 on floor and Lily Chapman's 9.15 on floor.

"We always go clean and don't throw bigger skills early in the season," Hostman said. "So this was a nice start. We struggled on beam but we'll get at that, but I was pleased with the effort and the continuity of the team."

St. Charles co-op coach Amy Wojdelko admitted that her team had reason to be tired, as it opened up on Friday at Batavia and then was back in action.

The team didn't appear tired though.

"It's always tough to go back-to-back," she said. "Our goal was to get above 140 so it was nice to see the girls do that. We're making little improvements and still working out kinks. Obviously, there's room for improvement. Not everything went perfectly, but some things got better."

Sophomore Emma Grace Redmond-Mattucci has continued right where she left off last season. She was dazzling especially on beam with a 9.6 and floor with a 9.55.

She put on quite the show with Ginsberg, falling just short in the all-around, 37.95 to 37.8.

St. Charles received all of its counting scores from a mix of five all-rounders.

Dani Buoy was second on beam with a 9.45 and had a 35.05 in the all-around. Devon Ross took third on floor with a 9.45. She had a 33.95 in the all-around, as did teammate Mychaela Guy. The team also needed Grace Levita's 7.8 on bars.

"We don't have a lot of change from last year so we have a lot of experience," Wojdelko said. "Mychaela Guy has stepped up. This was only her second all-around meet on varsity. She's doing a really nice job."