Prospect pieces together East title
Prospect definitely has all the pieces.
Now the Knights are just hoping to put it all together at the right time.
Prospect offered a glimpse of that potential in rolling to their eighth consecutive Mid-Suburban League East division title with a season-best 141.5 on Wednesday night at the Rolling Meadows triangular.
Host Rolling Meadows hit a season best 134.7 in taking second with Wheeling taking third (116.65).
Prospect has had its share of injuries and illnesses this year, but the Knights showed their versatility on Wednesday with four different individuals securing first-place finishes.
“We haven't had a meet yet where everyone has been in,” said senior Christina Pekar, who took first on the beam (9.25). “So when we're all in and all healthy we're going to hit. It's a good mix and we work well together.”
Sophomore Meggie Kania did her part by taking first on the floor (9.25), and adding a pair of second-place finishes on the beam (9.2) and vault (9.0).
“Our team has so much potential,” said Kania, who was a state qualifier on the floor last season. “We just haven't had a meet where we're all together.”
Lauren Johnson has added a key piece for the Knights. The sophomore broke her left foot before the season but is approaching full strength. Johnson took second on the bars (8.8) and third on the beam (9.05).
Freshman Gianna Scala continued her impressive season by taking first on the bars (9.3) and securing third on the floor (8.75) despite a fall on her final pass.
Senior Sarah Pekar capped the Knights' title run by taking first in the all-around (34.15) and tying freshman teammate Jacqueline Difonzo for third on the bars (8.4).
“This is a good meet for us,” said Prospect coach Randy Smith, “It proves we can go above a 140 even when we're not 100 percent. It's good because we still don't know our potential.”
Rolling Meadows also rose to the occasion with junior Lauren Cerza (9.1) and senior Emily Anderson (8.9) going 1-3 on the vault. Senior Becky Smith added a second-place finish on the floor (9.0).
“We worked really hard during the break to add individual skills to our routines to improve our scores,” said Smith. “As a team I feel like were coming together and it's only going to improve our scores.”
Junior Colleen Creech secured a 8.6 on the vault and sophomore Jessica Livingston added an 8.5 for Wheeling.
“We're continuing to get more confident in our skills and landing it,” said Creech.
Ÿ Prospect will be hosting The Pink Invitational on Saturday starting at 2:30 p.m. All money collected will be donated to the Lynn Sage Cancer Research Foundation. All breast cancer survivors attending the meet will have their name announced and will be honored in a brief ceremony before the Invite. Fremd will be hosting the Mari-Rae Sopper Invitational on Saturday starting at 1 p.m.