Hersey making gains in East

The premier race in the Mid-Suburban League has, for the past several years, been Fremd, Palatine and Conant.

All of those girls gymnastics teams reside in the West division and all are state contenders.

The East has been just as competitive, although on a slightly lower-scoring level, with Prospect, Buffalo Grove and Rolling Meadows all in the mix.

But this year, the East division could go to any one of four teams. Not only is two-time defending champion Prospect a favorite, so is Buffalo Grove once again, Meadows and Hersey.

Hersey proved that by defeating visiting Meadows 128.70-113.90 in the MSL East opener for both sides Tuesday night.

"We're going well," said Hersey coach Mason Vernon, whose team hit its season-high score. "We have a lot of room for improvement, but we can compete. This is my fourth year as (Hersey's) coach and they're buying into it. I've got some girls doing well for me."

Those would be Katie Dewar, who won vault (8.8), beam (8.85) and the all-around (34.95); Kate Reszotko, who won floor (9.0) and placed second on vault (8.3); and Monica Stryczula.

"This is the first meet where we've actually been at full strength," Vernon said. "Things are coming together."

Meadows has had trouble scoring with to the absence of No. 2 all-arounder Emily Anderson, who has been unable to compete because of an ankle injury. Coach Mike Costa is hoping to have her back in the lineup sometime after Christmas.

Also not at full strength is the Mustangs' top all-arounder, Jen Anderson.

"She's watered down a lot of her skills," Costa said. "She should be at full strength by January."

If the Andersons return to full strength, they should be a bona-fide contender.

"I was pretty impressed with our younger kids," Costa said of JV gymnasts Jill Pfisterer, Rebecca Smith and Renee Bohac, who competed on varsity Tuesday. "We added some underclass kids. We're playing with the lineup, seeing what works."