Fremd’s Patton, Palatine not horsing around
Just like a famous World War II general, Fremd’s C.J. Patton rode his horse to victory.
The sophomore tied his career-best with a 9.70 on the pommel horse to easily win the event Friday at the Hawk Invitational in Hoffman Estates. That performance came on the heels of a disappointing floor event, where Patton fell.
“I couldn’t wait to get on the horse,” Patton said. “I am getting more consistent with my horse routine and it is getting me some higher scores.”
Patton led Fremd to a third-place finish with a 139.45. Palatine won the meet with a season-best 147.975 and Conant was second with a 144.50. Hoffman Estates was fourth with a 138.85 while Schaumburg was fifth with 131.55.
The meet was a bit of foreshadowing for next Friday’s Mid-Suburban League championship at Hersey. The same five teams at the Hawk Invitational could finish in the top five at Hersey.
“I am looking at teams that traditionally were in the low 120’s,” Palatine coach Scott Hagel said. “Now we have strong 130 teams and teams knocking on the door for 140. It is great to see the West be this strong all around.”
Hagel was pleased with his team’s performance as the Pirates look forward to next week’s MSL meet.
“This was a great meet for us,” Hagel said. “We were able to bust out the low 140’s. We are trying to separate ourselves from the pack. We are hoping to finish strong”
The Pirates got a huge performance from Jonah Hinz. The junior turned in his best performance of the season while winning the all-around title with a 54.45.
“It was the best meet for me of the year,” said Hinz, who also won the still rings with a 9.00 and the high bar with an 8.90.
“I hit all my routines. I didn’t stumble on my landings and even landed my vault for once. This is a great way to get ready for conference.”
The Pirates also got string performances from Mike Jankovic, who was third in the vault and Matt Lee, who was fifth in the pommel horse and still rings.
Conant was led by its floor team of Tommy Palm, Joey Mauk and Brian Reedy. Led by Palm, who won the event with a 9.40, the trio placed first, fourth and fifth in the event.
“I had a real good workout today,” Palm said. “I loved this floor, it was so bouncy. And then when my teammates did so well, it pumped me up to do even better.”
Mauk and Ready also scored well for the Cougars. Mauk finished first in the parallel bars with a 9.40 while Reedy was fourth in the all-around with a 47.55. Nick Overby also finished in the top five in two events for the Cougars.
Conant coach Paul Kim credited the time spent in practice this past week for its highest performance of the season on Friday.
“We had a great week of practice,” Kim said. “It gave us time to focus on the little things and clean them up.”
Fremd’s Bobby Wongkamalasai won the vault with a 9.40 while Quin Bley finished fifth in the parallel bars.
Host Hoffman Estates continued its surge as it scored a season-best 138.95. Kyle Santiago, who was second in the all-around with a 48.65, also was third in the parallel bars and fourth in the still rings. His brother Kyle was second in the high bar while Neo Fernandez was fifth in the vault.
Chris Stehlin, who was third in the all-around with a 48.10, led an injured Schaumburg squad. The Saxons were without Matt Sigler, who sat out the meet with an injury, while Mack McDougall battled some nagging injuries and water-down routines to finish sixth in the all-around with a 41.85.