Glenbard West stays in trophy hunt
Stuck in sixth place halfway through Friday's IHSA state girls gymnastics finals in Palatine, Glenbard West didn't panic.
Instead, the Hilltoppers turned their attention to the half meet remaining that consisted of floor exercise and beam.
Glenbard West posted the third-highest score in the floor exercise (36.6) and second-best while closing on beam (36.05) to jump into fourth place with a 145.525.
"Walking back in here in sixth place we told them that they have nothing to lose," Glenbard West coach Carlos Fuentes said. "We knew we could finish strong. Floor has been our strongest event this year so we knew we could up big scores and show it off."
Missy Guzman posted a 9.35 and Becky Mladucky netted a 9.3 in the floor exercise to lead the Hilltoppers. Both gymnasts will compete in Saturday's finals with an opportunity to increase their team's score.
Shauna Gialluisi got the Hilltoppers off to a nice start on beam with an 8.7 but it was the 9.25 by Megan Brennan and 9.35 by Sarah Udelhofen that had the team overjoyed. Becky Mladucky had a tough fall to close the event, but still the team had put itself in contention for a trophy on Saturday.
"I got ready for beam and was thinking 'this will probably be my last beam ever,'" Udelhofen said. "Now I'll have a chance to do it again (Saturday). I just wanted to go out and stick it and I'm so happy that I did."
The Hilltoppers will have four chances to bump up their team score, which could be needed in what looks to be a tight race, especially for third place. Carmel leads Lyons 146.975-146.775 for the overall title while Glenbard West trails Fremd by just 0.4 and leads Prairie Ridge co-op by only 0.125.
Glenbard North ended its night in sixth place with a 143.95. The Panthers will not have a chance to increase their score on Saturday as none of their gymnasts qualified in any of the individual events.
"It is what it is, and I thought for the most part the meet was good," Glenbard North senior Amber Fox said. "Maybe it would've been a whole lot different if we would've ended on vault instead of beam."
Fox placed 11th in the all-around with a 36.875.
Dedication and hard work paid off for Naperville North senior Carolyn Filarski on parallel bars as she tied with Lyons' Kristi Carling for the top score of 9.525 in the event.
"I'd struggled with it all season but kept working at it and have done it everyday these past two weeks," Filarski said. "I finally got the muscle memory down and a lot of repetitions and it paid off today."
Filarski's teammate, Tori Tanaka, came close to advancing on beam but had to settle for 15th place with a 9.1.
Addison Trail's Alyssa Cruz fell just short of becoming the first gymnast in school history to win an all-around title as she placed second to Warren senior Kim Gotlund, 37.925 to 37.875. Cruz will contend for individual state titles on Saturday night in vault, parallel bars and floor exercise, where she scored a Friday-best 9.650.
Other notable area gymnasts who were among the elite in state, included Neuqua Valley's Morgan Knight who tied for 22nd on vault with a 9.4 and senior Catherine Miller, who placed 29th on beam with an 8.45, and Wheaton Warrenville South senior Elizabeth Ciesielki who finished her career with an 8.5 in the floor exercise.