Lake Park places third in UEC
The St. Charles co-op girls gymnastics team is peaking at the right time.
During Friday's Upstate Eight Conference meet in Roselle, St. Charles proved to be superior to its UEC foes, scoring a 144.275, while runner-up South Elgin-Bartlett was a distant second with a 137.35.
It certainly helps when you have stellar gymnasts who earn the top three scores in the all-around. Stephanie de la Torriente led the way, with Liz Fairweather and Danielle Goebbert right behind her.
"I think with this kind of consistency we've found our niche," St. Charles coach Amy Lill said. "We had a couple of falls on bars, but part of that is just me looking for other areas where we can improve."
Improvement should be a scary thing to opponents as St. Charles gears up to host its own regional next Friday. Earlier in the week St. Charles scored a season-best 145.6.
The winners received a boost from senior Katie Shanel. After struggling a bit during Tuesday's senior night dual meet against Waubonsie Valley, Shanel responded by tying de la Torriente for second in the floor exercise.
"I got pumped up and did what I've been practicing," Shanel said. "I've been working really hard at practice and coach said to slow it down and it's good to see my hard work pay off, especially since floor is a strength."
Host Lake Park once again struggled with consistency and it cost the Lancers who finished in third place.
"We're inconsistent. That's all it is," Lake Park coach Keith Matune said. "Being able to control what we can control and we just have not done it."
One thing that was consistent for the Lancers was their scoring.
The all-around scores of Samantha Millikan, Ashley Nelson and Kelsey Coleman were 33.775, 33.575 and 35.525, respectively.
A season filled with injuries continued for Neuqua Valley, which was limited in using standout gymnast Catherine Miller, who was able to compete on bars, which she won with a 9.3.
"It's tough being without your top gymnast and then trying to fill in spots," Wildcats coach Jaclyn Messerges said. "Hopefully, we'll have her back, can get in some skills and be ready for next week's regional."
The Wildcats did receive a nice boost from Heather Summers, who finished third on bars and fifth on beam. Margot Wilson was fourth on bars.
Danielle Christy won the vault for Waubonsie Valley but the Warriors slipped into fifth place.