Barrington snares regional title

Barrington's Lauren Tenbrunsel said the trade was worth it.

Tenbrunsel, who is nursing a turf toe, opted along with coach Jason Loeffer, to skip all but one event at last Wednesday's Mid-Suburban League girls gymnastics meet.

"It has always been a goal of mine to do well in the all-around at the conference meet," Tenbrunsel said. "But getting ready for the regionals was more important. It was very motivating."

Tenbrunsel patience's paid huge dividends. Not only was she able to compete in the all-around Tuesday at the Barrington regional, the junior won it with a career-best 37.10.

"I got very determined for this meet," said Tenbrunsel, who also won all four individual events. "I can't complain. Today I was very focused on taking the pressure off and having fun."

Loeffler said it was a challenge to get Tenbrunsel ready for the regional meet.

"It has been a chess game with her this week with the turf toe" Loeffler said. "I didn't want her coming into this meet with not enough experience. It was more of where do I rest her and how do I rest her and how do I push her. I think the balance with good communication with her and our training staff paid off."

Tenbrunsel had winning scores of 9.425 on the vault, 8.90 on the bars, 9.45 on the beam and 9.325 on the floor.

She helped the Fillies win their first regional title in five years with a 140.125. They will automatically advance to next week's sectionals at Conant.

"We haven't had a full team in a couple of weeks," Loeffler said. "It is good to have them back and we did well. Tonight was huge for us. It is a real morale booster."

Jade Moranetz was third in the all-around with a 34.075 and Sarah Ruesch was fourth with a 33.85.

Moranetz was an automatic qualifier in the all-around, floor and the vault while Ruesch (vault, floor) Ashley Diaz (bars), Sydney Goodman (beam), Brooke Husby (floor) and Alana Riemenschneider (floor) also were automatic qualifiers.

Palatine was second with a 135.50. The Pirates have the highest at-large score with two more regionals to go. The top two at-large teams advance to sectionals.

"We didn't hit bars, but everything else was fine," Palatine coach Terry Theobald said. "It was a good meet for the way they are judging. And we came back in beam which was good."

Alyssa Eckels led the Pirates by finishing second in the all-around with a 34.15. Elly Nilsen was fifth in the all-around with a 33.60 while Samantha Mogensen was sixth with a 33.50.

Kaci Wimer (vault), Nilsen (vault, bars, beam), Eckels (bars, beam) and Morgensen (beam), were all automatic qualifiers to the sectional meet.

Buffalo Grove's Leah Oyen tied Tenbrunsel for the bars title with an 8.90. The freshman was excited to explain her routine.

"I did a kip, squat on, kip, hand stand, switch, switch, front giant pirouette back," a smiling Oyen said. "I had a lot of fun."

Buffalo Grove coach Stephanie Schrader said that her team, which suffered through a year of injuries and illnesses, finished strong with a 126.25. Hannah Greenspan, Hannah Fricke and Anna Lang were all in the top 10 in the all-around.

"They really did their best today," Schrader said. "They worked hard and had a good experience and did well."

Hersey's Elise Foreline (bars) was the only Huskie to finish in the top 10. She also finished 10th in the all-around.

"It went well for us," Hersey coach Shannon Barrett said. "This was a building year for us. We had a lot of freshmen on the varsity this season. We just came into the gym tonight wanting to hit and we did our best."