Diab, Glenbard West take titles at Oswego

Glenbard West may have plenty of fresh faces this season but the expectations remain the same.

"A lot of people questioned what we would we look like a year after winning the state championship and losing all those seniors, but we've been working behind the scenes for the last few years anticipating their loss," Hilltoppers coach Carlos Fuentes said. "We have a strong JV group and they've morphed in and stepped up big."

While junior Anna Diab put on a show of her own, winning all four events and the all-around title in Saturday's 10th annual Tumble for the Troops at Oswego, the Hilltoppers could not have won the invite with 140.975 points without the contributions of her teammates.

Diab won the all-around with a 37.875, more than two full points better than the 35.7 posted by runner-up Rebecca Honig from Glenbard East.

"I'm training a lot on consistency and I'm trying perfect every little thing in my routine," Diab said. "I think that showed in my meet today. And as one of the oldest girls on the team, I'm trying to show the younger girls how to practice and everything, and that hard work really does play off and you can see that in meets and things like that."

While Diab led the way, Alina Bhagwakar and Audrey Harrington contributed three key scores apiece, Haley Trippel and Skyla Oh added a pair and Breana Gama and Meg McNamara also contributed to the team score on an event as the Hilltoppers went seven deep in that regard.

"We have a tradition of coming in, hitting routines, being clean and really working hard," Fuentes said. "It's a fun new team to be working with. They have a lot of similarities to that group that just graduated."

Runner-up Glenbard East had a 137.475 while host Oswego co-op edged Wheaton co-op, 136.375 to 136.125 for third place. Lake Park was fifth among the 10-team field with a 130.675.

The Rams may have not been at their finest, but they had two particular notable moments - the quiet return of Kali Kartheiser, who was limited to bars, and Riley Olson's 9.0 vault.

Kartheiser competed for the first time this season while Olson flipped her vault for the first time.

"It was very exciting and I didn't think I was going to land it or do as good as I did," Olson said. "Coming off an injury, it felt good to actually hit it. It was important to hit that and contribute to the team score."

Honig was second on floor and vault, Kelsey Donovan was second on bars and third on vault and Erin Donovan placed third on bars for the Rams.

"Riley was our highlight today," Kelsey Donovan said. "I cried a little bit and then was like 'Hey, I've got to go now.' Our beam scores were a little low for having us hit so that's something with form that we need to work on."

Wheaton co-op was short-handed, with Emily Burnham missing the meet with the flu, but the team impressed coach Maureen Latimer with their toughness.

"We had some good moments today," she said. "I'm happy that they are starting to show more fight in them. And we started stronger on beam. In the past it's been tough, but we started stronger than ever."

Paula Naronowicz, who took fifth in the all-around with a 34.225, paced the Lancers. Her teammate Julia Kurek placed second on beam.

Batavia finished in sixth place with a 130.675, tops among the Fox Valley area schools. Geneva had a 126.75 and U-46 co-op had a 124.225.

"They were just a little off today," Bulldogs coach Taryn Boyce said. "But I still feel like we have a lot in our back pocket. We've got good kids, good numbers and our depth is good, so there's a good team dynamic here."

All-arounders Natalie Hayden (32.85) and Taylor Novotny (32.325) paced the Bulldogs.

Olivia Takesue (32.325) and Katie Beitzel (31.825) led the way for Geneva, which placed seventh with a 126.75.

U-46 co-op was eighth with a 124.225.