Ott leads Geneva to UEC championship
Geneva’s Emily Ott has been competing as a highly talented beam and floor specialist.
On Saturday Ott competed as an all-arounder for the first time of the season.
The senior didn’t look by any means rusty. Her season debut on vault resulted in a first-place 9.3. Her second performance on bars ended in a second-place 8.9.
Ott took care of business on beam and floor as well, winning both events while taking top honors in the all-around with a 37.125.
Her efforts helped the Vikings win their first appearance in the Upstate Eight Conference meet as they cruised past runner-up Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley co-op, 142.125-138.650.
The 142.125 established a school record for Geneva. Their previous record of 139.125 was established in last year’s Geneva regional.
“Our entire team was awesome today,” Ott said. “I’m not sure if it was how we warmed up, but after we hit bars we knew this was going to be a good meet.”
Ashley Puff took second in the all-around for the Vikings with a 36.250. The sophomore placed in the top 5 in all four events. The Vikings also utilized their team’s depth as Claire Scatterday placed fourth on beam with a 9.15, Blythe Boyle finished fifth on vault with a 9.0 and Jenna Ginsberg was seventh on bars with an 8.75.
“This is such a great accomplishment for the seniors who have meant so much and built the integrity of this program,” Geneva coach Kim Hostman said. “They’ve worked so hard for it, and to win it and hit a 140, and then to get a 142 on top of it and win conference, it’s just an outstanding day.”
Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley co-op was paced by Maddie Strick’s 35.2 in the all-around. Strick won bars with a 9.3. Jessica Malon added a 34.45 in the all-around and took fourth on floor with a 9.1 and fifth on bars with an 8.75. Nina Brandenburg was second on floor with a 9.2 and Jordyn Penny’s best effort was her 9.2 on beam which earned her third place.
“We have so many individuals with different strengths,” Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley co-op coach Nicole Daly said. “We had a couple weird flukes today that never happen, but we’ll work on that this week and hopefully hit at regional.”
Host Lake Park took third place with a 135.025. Jessica Lewis led the Lancers with a 35 in the all-around.
“This year has been a year of building for the program for years to come,” Lake Park coach Jake Luketin said. “They have shown tremendous effort in the the gym and their work ethic has improved so much, so they deserve to be scoring higher and I’m glad their seeing the results they deserve.”
Sara Cushing’s 34.9 in the all-around helped Neuqua Valley take fourth place with a 134.7. Cushing also took second place on beam with a 9.5. Teammate Riley Wypiszenski added a 9.250 on vault to claim second place.
Cushing added a cartwheel to her beam routine and it added two tenths to her score.
“Sarah rocked her beam again,” Neuqua Valley coach Christine Clark said. “Overall we saw some good, some not good and some right in the middle.”
Taeopae Wetterman took third place in the all-around with a 35.550 to lead Bartlett/South Elgin/Streamwood co-op to fifth place with a 133.175.
St. Charles co-op entered the meet in a three-way tie with Geneva and Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley co-op with a 5-1 regular-season conference record. The team competed without its top all-arounder, Kayle Arnold, who is injured and struggled as a team.
“We just had one of those meets,” St. Charles co-op coach Amy Lill said.
Batavia placed seventh with a 123.3. The Bulldogs top all-arounders were Brittany Wahlen and Sarah Ganster.