Girls gymnastics: Conant honors seniors, beats Hoffman Estates

Conant's Lea Faouaz turned up the jets and landed nearly perfectly Saturday in Hoffman Estates.

Faouaz, who can struggle on the floor, found an energy burst just when she needed it to win the event with a 9.35.

"I usually struggle with my second pass," Faouaz said. "I am usually landing short. It was probably adrenaline. It was the last event, last home meet. So I just wanted to finish strong."

Faouaz also won the beam with a 9.25 and the bars with a 9.00. She also posted the top all-around score of 36.70.

"I love competing floor," Faouaz said. "It wasn't my best all-around, but it was definitely one of my top meets."

Conant, which beat Hoffman Estates 137.90-129 used Saturday's girls gymnastics meet to honor its seven senior gymnasts.

"I am just so happy on how hard these girls compete," Conant coach Anthony Avella said. "They have had to put up with a lot. I commend them for their continuous effort in the gym."

Danielle Smith scored a 35.05 to finish third in the all-around. Smith said though she was sad, it was still great to get an opportunity to compete this season.

"It was sad because it is ending," Smith said. "And I have been doing gymnastics for so long. I am glad we had a season to begin with. I am lucky for that. I know it was shortened, but we are making the most of it."

Sarah Taucher, who scored a 32.10 in the all-around and was second on the beam with an 8.95 echoed Smith's thoughts.

"It was nice to be back competing in our gym one last time," Taucher said. "We were hopeful that we were going to have a season, so it was exciting when we did."

Sofia Presta, who is a sophomore, tied for top honors on the vault with a 9.30. MacKenzie Lunkes and Mikaela Kaminski also did well for Conant.

The Cougars also used it as a tuneup for Monday's showdown at Barrington for the Mid-Suburban West regular-season title. Both squads are 4-0.

"That will be a tough one," Avella said. "We are looking forward to it. As a team, we want to know where we stack up."

Hoffman Estates got a big lift from Elyssa Wuerffel, who was injured coming into the season. Wuerffel competed in all four events. She tied for the vault with a 9.30 and finished second in the all-around with a 35.20.

Jekeira Robbins, Paige Biggs, Nikki Thakkar and Liliana Cabral also did well for the Hawks.

"We upped our value and had the potential to do better," Hoffman Estates coach Dave Calisch said. "Our goal was a 130 and we just fell a little short. We fumbled a little with the execution, but there is still a lot in there."