Girls gymnastics: Pirates’ Waddington wins all-around crown at Palatine invite
There were a lot of strong performances Saturday afternoon at the 38th annual Palatine Invitational as girls gymnastics teams competed in their final big meet before the upcoming holiday break.
The pressure-packed battle for the championship went down to the wire, but it was Glenbrook South that edged Hinsdale South 137.8 to 137.05 for the title of the eight-team meet. Libertyville (135.75 points) placed third to topple the host Pirates (134.25 points) in fourth.
York took fifth place with 132.61 points while Prospect (128.55 points) placed sixth. Naperville North's short-handed team (106.7 points) placed seventh.
The all-around competition was also very close, and a 9.55 on floor exercise to close out the meet clinched the crown for Palatine junior Jolee Waddington (9.26 average) by a 37.05 to 36.35 margin over Hinsdale South runner-up Anya Patel.
"We missed on a few events still, but our best scoring events were floor exercise and vault," said Hinsdale South coach Jarrod Amolsch, whose team easily soared to a season-high score. "We took a few things out today because we wanted to play if safe, but she (Patel) always steps up which is so fun to watch."
After not competing on floor and vault last week due to a knee injury, Waddington (second in state all-around last year) returned to form Saturday without any significant deductions overall.
"It was nice to bounce back and be with my teammates again on vault and floor," said Waddington. "I want to go to state again, make it on beam, and then every event including all-around. I want to just do the best for my seniors and for my coaches."
York's Melania Veselovsky nipped Libertyville's Nina Raniszewski 36.1 to 36.0 for third place in the all-around. York teammates Mia Carone (34.83 points) and Hayley Schlitz (34.73 points) placed sixth and seventh, respectively.
Hinsdale South's Kaitlyn Amolsch (34.7 points) tied for eighth overall while Prospect's Megan Goumas (33.65 points) placed 10th.
"The girls continue to get better and better. It's fun watching them compete, and they're still working on adding in their difficulty," said Libertyville coach Tiffany Owens. "Nina (Raniszewski) hit all four events, and from a performance perspective it was her best meet."
Libertyville's MacKenzie Tyrrell placed third on balance beam with an 8.7 while Prospect's Taryn Sorensen (9.05) placed fourth on uneven bars. Waddington won floor (9.55) and uneven bars (9.45) while Veselovsky (9.65) won vault. Patel (8.8) took second on beam.
"We did fairly well, but I had one of my all-arounder's (Maggie Munoz) take a nasty fall on bars so we had to pull her from the last event," said York coach Ashley Samata. "But they came through when I needed them, and I couldn't be happier with them today."
Palatine also turned in a season-high score, and coach Terry Theobald is optimistic that his veteran squad can continue to make great strides as the season progresses.
"We're just getting better and better each meet, and I've got seven seniors so we've got to figure out who's doing what and move up from there," Theobald said. "She (Waddington) is a true athlete, and home court helps her being on her own equipment."