Donovan, Glenbard East defeat Lake Park

Kelsey Donovan is a really happy kid these days.

The Glenbard East senior already looks better than she did last year when the Rams appeared in the girls gymnastics state finals for the first time.

She's also mature enough to recognize that her gymnastics days in Lombard will be over in a few months, so she's soaking up and trying to enjoy every moment. And she wanted to beat Lake Park on Monday night since the Lancers beat the Rams a season ago, so she did all she could to ensure that it happened.

"The season has gone really great so far," she said. "My all-around has been going up every meet so far. I think I had a 36 twice last year and this is our fourth meet and I've done it twice already so I'm really happy with my performances. And we really did want to beat Lake Park. We were watching their scores. At least I was."

Donovan scored a 36.45 in the all-around while posting the best score on bars, beam and vault as Glenbard East defeated Lake Park 138.2 to 137.4 in Lombard.

"I can honestly think of this being my last year and cry on the spot," she said. "The team is real fun and we've got three new varsity members, including Ella (Kud), a freshman who has a bubbly personality and makes practice fun.

"We're doing well already. We're only four meets in so our confidence will boost, everyone will become a little more seasoned and comfortable, especially with all these home meets that we have."

Becca Honig was second in the all-around with a 35.5 for the Rams. The junior thought she deserved better than an 8.95 on floor but recognizes that scoring doesn't always match up with what a gymnast believes they deserve.

"You don't always get the score you think you should get," she said. "At least I know what I did wrong and can fix the problems so I feel better knowing that. We're a confident team. We really have that mutual bond of what fits best for each person. We did lose (a couple graduated gymnasts) from last year, but I feel we're even more confident this year."

Kud and sophomore Erin Donovan contributed scores on three events and junior Eliza Pugacewicz delivered one on vault for Glenbard East which hit 5-for-5 on beam.

"Beam was awesome with no falls there," Kelsey Donovan said. "It's a great feeling, especially on beam because it's so easy to just fall off the side so that was great tonight."

Senior Julia Kurek led the Lancers with a 35.25 in the all-around.

"We did pretty well again," Kurek said. "We started the season off a little rough, but as the meets have gone on we've started to improve and so far we've been pretty consistent with scores and done pretty well. As a team we're really trying to improve on our bars and vault scores."

It's been a busy past few days for the Lancers, who had a dual at Geneva on Wednesday and an invite at Hinsdale Central on Saturday.

"This is what we are right now," Lancers coach Jake Luketin said. "I know that some of the girls have been wanting more and thinking we have more, and if you want more I told them you have to do more. We are what we are right now until we decide to do more."

Junior Kendall Nelson took third on vault, sophomore Paula Naronowicz was second on beam and her older sister, senior Julia Naronowicz, was the floor champion.

"The entire team is working really hard now, it's not just me," Paula Naronowicz said. "I'm just kind of trying to get back in the groove. All of us are seeing improvement. Everyone is working hard to get to their place."

The best from both teams is still in front of them. The Lancers are looking forward to getting some gymnasts back, including all-arounder Racquel Suhr, while the Rams will get a huge jolt to their team once junior all-around Kali Kartheiser returns. She might begin easing her way back later this week.

"Not that we're not successful without her, because I'm proud of everyone, but Kali's a key asset who is out, but she's supposed to be starting soon," Donovan said. "And there are some things I'm working towards."

Donovan doesn't have any plans of changing what she's doing on vault and beam but has worked on a new floor pass as well as a blind full on bars.

"My new floor pass didn't come out tonight, but it was here last week," she said. "It wasn't the best in warmups, so I wasn't feeling it and I hope to add to my bar routine."