Naperville Central overachieves with 133.2 at Libertyville
It was a great start to the season for the Naperville Central boys gymnastics team Saturday morning at Libertyville.
The Redhawks surpassed their coach's expectations by soaring to a 133.2 to 118.2 nonconference victory over the Wildcats as numerous gymnasts contributed in the annual dual meet.
"Our goal today was a 128, and we got a 133 so I'm happy with that," said Naperville Central coach Glen Reimers, whose squad scored 24.9 points on floor exercise and 23.7 points on vault. "Floor exercise, vault and parallel bars were our best events, and I was also happy with still rings with 22 points on that event."
After tying for second place in the state on pommel horse and taking third on still rings last year, Naperville Central senior Ryan Durkin looked in midseason form by winning all four of the events he competed in.
Durkin shined with a first-place 9.3 on still rings. He added winning scores of 9.2 on pommel horse, 8.8 on parallel bars and 8.6 on high bar.
"Today was pretty good for the first meet and it can only go up from here," said Durkin, whose pommel-horse routine even included a fall. "My goal is to win pommel horse this year. That is my No. 1 priority. The team did a lot better than I thought we would do for our first meet. We just have to work on our form."
Without senior all-arounder and previous state qualifier Adrian Metcalf out this spring, Libertyville could be facing an uphill struggle. The Wildcats were also without the services of junior all-arounder Andrew Jacob due to a recent injury in practice. He is expected to return to action in about two weeks.
Libertyville sophomore Pat Tanski nipped Naperville Central's Charlie Nawara 39.7 to 39.3 for the all-around championship. Libertyville was outstanding on floor exercise with 26.7 points.
Wildcats senior Jade Fisher took home first place on floor with a 9.3, while teammate Jacob Reichert captured runner-up honors with a 9.0. Naperville Central's Taj Jacobs (8.5) edged Libertyville's Erik Meyer (8.4) and teammate Tony Biondo (8.4) for third place on floor.
"Overall, I was very happy with their performance and the progress they have shown, and they were at the top of their game for their level," said Libertyville coach Josh Cimo, whose team was also impressive on vault with 24.5 points. "The team has a great work ethic, they work hard, and they do a great job for what they have."
Jacobs added a winning mark of 8.6 on vault, followed closely by Tanski (8.5) in second place and Reichert (8.3) in third place.
Naperville Central's Sean Piggott took second place on parallel bars with a 7.8, while Libertyville senior Alec Ovassipian was the runner-up on still rings with a 7.1. Tanski and Nawara tied for second place on high bar with a 7.2.
Reimers is optimistic about Durkin's chances to excel at state this year, as the Redhawks begin the long grind to what they will hope includes quite a few state qualifiers in mid-May.
"What we have to do right now is just keep his (Durkin's) routines where they are because we don't want him to peak too early," said Reimers. "I think if we can get him to be consistent with his rhythm on pommel horse, he can win pommel horse and he can finish in the top five on still rings. I think he can be in the finals on all four of his events."
Libertyville is off until next Friday when the Wildcats head to the powerful Hinsdale Central Invitational.
"They have a lot of potential," Cimo said of his Wildcats. "The key is going to be staying on the pommel horse and fulfilling some of the key element groups we're missing in some events to push us up to a 130 maybe if everybody hits. We usually have a 20- to 30-point jump from now to the end of the season so we have a lot of room for improvement."