Penny leads Valley co-op to third at Neuqua Valley
Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley co-op, Neuqua Valley and Lake Park finished third through fifth, respectively, on Saturday in the Neuqua Valley girls gymnastics invitational.
Lincoln-Way co-op edged last year's champion, Prairie Ridge, 140.550 to 139.050 to win the meet.
Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley co-op finished with a 138.150. Freshman Jordyn Penny had the team's top finishes, taking second on beam with an 8.95, third on bars with a 9.1 and fifth on vault with a 9.150, as well as on floor with a 9.250. She finished with an all-around total of 36.45.
Maddie Strick placed eighth on beam with an 8.5 and fifth on bars with a 9.0 while Elizabeth Brandenburg found a great deal of success on floor, securing fourth place with a 9.35 for Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley.
The host Wildcats received a huge effort on beam from Riley Wypiszenski. The senior won the event with a 9.0 and also added a sixth-place finish on vault with an 8.95.
“She did awesome,” Neuqua Valley coach Christine Clark said. “She got all her connections really good. It was really good to see.”
The Wildcats finished with a 136.8.
Jamie Butler took ninth on vault with an 8.8 while Sarah Cushing took third on floor with a 9.4, seventh on beam with an 8.5 and 11th on bars with an 8.45.
“Jaime had a very good night. She flipped her vault, was really good on bars and good on beam,” Clark said. “It was not the best night for Sarah but to her credit she did really good piecing things together and not falling apart.”
Cushing edged Wypiszenski as the Wildcats top all-arounder, 34.9 to 34.8.
Still battling injuries, Lake Park secured fifth place with a 133.35. Sofia Tobon had the highest finish for the Lancers, placing eighth on bars with an 8.8. Jessica Lewis tied for 10th on vault with an 8.75.
“We're still not all the way healthy and have two weeks before conference to get healthy and clean things up,” Lake Park coach Jake Luketin said. “We only had four healthy girls and one who is kind of healthy. Everyone is working hard and it's still a team effort.”