Glenbard West hits it just right
The theme of Saturday night's Heart Hop Dance at Glenbard West was "All you need is love."
The message of Glenbard West girls gymnastics coach Carlos Fuentes coach during Saturday afternoon's Glenbard West regional was "All you need to do is hit."
Glenbard West went 19 for 20 and simply overwhelmed the rest of the competition with 146.675 points. Runner-up South Elgin/Bartlett/Streamwood finished with a 138.775. The Hilltoppers now have several days to prepare for the sectional, which they will host Thursday.
"It was business as usual and everything went pretty much as planned," Fuentes said. "Above 145 is where we want to be. We've been above 145 consistently for awhile now, and now we need to make sure we can come to sectional, hit and advance."
The Hilltoppers won all four events and displayed exceptional depth as seven gymnasts finished in fourth place or better in at least one event.
"We always aim to go 20 for 20, and we had 19 today, just one fall on beam," Fuentes said. "There's always someone to pick things up. The next gymnast is always going to put up a quality score and when you go six or seven deep the team really benefits."
Becky Mladucky led the way for the Hilltoppers, winning the beam and bars and taking second in the floor exercise. Shannon Dietz and Shauna Gialluisi followed Mladucky with second place and third place on bars. Sarah Udelhofen took fourth on beam and fifth on vault and floor exercise. Nicole Pagor placed fourth in the floor exercise while Missy Guzman, the team's lone all-arounder, finished third in the floor exercise and fourth in the all-around. Lastly, Megan Brennan, competing for the first time since Jan. 6 due to a leg injury, took fourth on vault and fifth on beam.
"It was good to get back out there, and I was able to make my vault and I stayed on beam," Brennan said. "Now we'll look to the sectional. We're really excited about hosting and are really hoping to go out and hit on all events."
South Elgin/Bartlett/Streamwood co-op is breathing a huge sigh of relief as it barely advanced as the final at-large team, nipping the 138.6 posted by St. Charles co-op on Friday.
"I think we played it safe today in that we held back on a few things and just wanted to hit and qualify," South Elgin/Bartlett/Streamwood coach Amy August said. "We were at around a 138 after two events and we realized we needed to average a 9 to go 140, and that was kind of worrisome."
Emily Potts led the team by placing second in the all-around, third on beam and vault and fourth on bars. Taeopae Wetterman took second on beam, and Kristell Westbrook was fifth in the all-around.
"I don't know if it's a karma thing, but I was on a St. Charles team that lost to Oswego by a similar tight margin," August said. "It was such a close call, but I'm glad it's us (that advanced)."
Geneva, which scored a 139.1 while hosting a regional on Monday, is the other at-large team to advance to the sectional.
Batavia took third with a 134.3. Danae Fuqua placed second on vault, third in the all-around, fifth on bars and sixth on beam. Emma Gear advanced as an at-large candidate on bars, floor exercise and the all-around.
"It was a long meet and we weren't mentally prepared," Batavia coach Taryn Boyce said. "We had a couple of unexpected falls, but at least we have some positives with some kids going to sectionals."
Addison Trail's Alyssa Cruz won vault and floor exercise while totaling the top all-around score of 37.025.
Wheaton North co-op's Kristina Terry also advanced. The gymnast from West Chicago qualified as an at-large candidate on beam, vault, bars and the all-around.
"I'm real excited for her to get to sectional," Wheaton North coach Lee Wood said. "This is a very great thing and a good ending for her, and I'm looking forward to seeing how Thursday goes."