Naperville North freshman impresses in debut

About a year ago, an eighth-grader attended one of the Naperville North's home meets and was amazed by the enthusiasm of the gymnasts and the amount of fun they were having.

Now, she's a part of that fun.

Making her high school debut during Thursday's DuPage Valley Conference triangular, freshman Kelsey Sumser won three events as well as the all-around with a 35.5, but rival Naperville Central slipped past the Huskies, 125.2 to 125.1, while Glenbard North was third with a 112.25.

"I think it was so much fun," Sumser said. "It's a totally different experience and I love the camaraderie we have with our team. It's awesome."

Susmer pretty much made up her mind that she would join the team after visiting that meet last year. Now the fun is just beginning.

"I think I made up my mind right away that I wanted to do it," she said. "It's so different with everyone cheering for each other. There's so much energy in here. I loved the experience."

Sumser snagged top honors on bars, beam and floor and was barely outscored by Naperville Central's Rose Fritz, 9.1 to 9.0 for high honors on vault.

"Kelsey is going to be the one we kind of build around. She's really good," Huskies coach Chris Stanicek said. "We've got some skills on the team, but we're sloppy right now and have to clean and tighten some things up."

Chloe Tsao, Gwen Swalwell and Grace Ryan also competed as all-arounders for the Huskies.

The Redhawks were nearly 2 points better on floor than the Huskies, which proved to be the biggest scoring disparity between the two teams, especially since the Huskies were the top-scoring team in the remaining three events.

Rose Fritz led the way with a 32.45 in the all-around while newcomer Lexi Swanson had a 31.75.

"I think with Maddie (Surin), Hailey (Haumann) and Katie (Petro) returning and Lexi (Swanson) who is new this year, and has done club before, that we can have a really good team," Fritz said. "We all work well together which is good, and right now everybody has some skills they can do and those they are working toward."

Fritz was actually surprised with how well the Redhawks fared for their first time officially competing in the gym.

"I think it went a little bit better than expected," she said. "So that was exciting, and we won too."

Naperville Central coach Glen Reimers usually keeps tabulating his team's score as the meets transpire, but this time he didn't.

"This was probably the first time I actually didn't know our score, ever," he said. "I kind of just laid back. Maybe I'm finally getting smart and not worrying about what they score and watching what they do."

Glenbard North freshman Sarah Ozeki also had an excellent first meet. She didn't compete on vault but placed third in the other three events.

"She did pretty well and had a beautiful floor routine," Panthers coach Kristin Nordquist said. "She's a kid to look out for this year, as well as another freshman, Katie Wagner, who didn't compete due to a preseason injury."

Nordquist has a roster of 20, but more than half the team isn't ready to compete yet so the Panthers were limited in the opener. Sydney Olejnik led the team in the all-around with a 28.45.