Libertyville steps up, tops Hersey and Naperville Central
After dropping a close 1-point loss to Prospect in its 2010 boys gymnastics season-opener, host Libertyville was hoping to pick up its first victories of the new campaign in a double-dual meet Saturday morning.
And after building a comfortable lead over both Hersey and Naperville Central after five events the Wildcats (2-1) did exactly that as they picked up two victories on the day with a meet-high 126.6 points.
The Huskies (1-1) had a pretty solid showing with 120.5 points in their season opener, but short-handed Naperville Central (0-3) picked up two losses on the day as the Redhawks scored 104.6 points in their second outing of the season.
Libertyville junior Craig Breckenridge (52.2 points) rolled to the all-around championship Saturday with an 8.70 average. He was the individual champion on five of the six events.
"I'm happy with it and it's a lot higher than I was scoring last year so I'm real pleased with it," said Breckenridge, who placed 26th in the state all-around last year. "I did the same routine today as I did last year on still rings, but it was a lot more powerful and a much better routine."
Breckenridge started off his meet by winning the floor exercise competition with a 9.2 before adding a first-place 8.7 on pommel horse. Naperville Central's Dave Rynearson was the runner-up on floor exercise with a 9.0 while Libertyville senior Jamie Kadonsky placed third on floor with an 8.7. Libertyville sophomore Evan Policht placed fourth on floor with an 8.4 while the Redhawks' John Mixen (8.3) and Libertyville senior Alex Kane (8.3) tied for fifth on floor.
"We had half of our varsity out because they were at a church retreat so we only put up three guys in each event," said Naperville Central coach Glen Reimers, whose team scored 24.7 points on vault. "We had no all-arounder's because Dave (Rynearson) only did four events and John (Mixen) did five. But I think they looked decent and I thought they did better than they did on Wednesday (against Lincoln-Way)."
Breckenridge added a first-place 8.9 on still rings to easily outdistance Hersey's Evan Reynolds (7.6) in second place.
Hersey senior Drew Schulz, who won the vault competition at Friday's MSL East vs. West meet with a 9.0, came back Saturday and hit that same score to win again over Mixen (8.7) and Breckenridge (8.6).
"For the first meet being nervous played a role, but we've got a little depth and this was the highest score for a first meet in my six years here," said Hersey coach Mason Vernon, whose team scored 25.2 points on vault. "Our goal today was a 117 so they're looking good and I'm proud of what they're doing on a daily basis."
Breckenridge finished off his day strong with winning marks of 8.7 on parallel bars and 8.1 on high bar.
Hersey's Bruce Waters placed second on parallel bars with a 7.6 while teammate Jake Campbell (6.5) placed third on p-bars. Hersey's Bryan Torrellas (6.6) added a second-place finish on high bar.
"Some of the standouts today were Jamie Kadonsky on floor, parallel bars and high bar, and Alex Kane on floor, vault, parallel bars, and still rings," said Libertyville coach Curt Austin, who was a two-time state tumbling champion. "You can't say enough about Craig (Breckenridge). We're grooming him for the state meet, and he has a great work ethic and attitude."