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Diab, Hilltoppers tops in District 87

There's no use debating who is the top boys gymnastics team in District 87 this spring.

Glenbard West rolled past Glenbard South, Glenbard East and Glenbard North in Thursday night's quad meet in Carol Stream, winning convincingly with 145 points. The Raiders were a distant runner-up with a 120.85 and followed by a 111.7 from the Rams and 93.6 by the host Panthers.

There definitely was no denying Glenbard West freshman Max Diab, who is already showing that he's one of the top all-arounders in the state despite only competing for the second time this year. Diab finished second on high bar with a 7.6 but won the remaining five events.

"It went pretty well," he said. "There were some things I could've done better, but I can't complain."

Diab was magnificent on vault, scoring an eye-popping 9.7. He added a 9.2 on still rings, 9 on floor, 8.4 on pommel horse and an 8 on pommel horse.

"I'm still trying to get used to everything here, but a 145 as a team is pretty good at this point," Diab said. "They didn't score that high last year so that's pretty good, but there's room for improvement for me and the team also."

Fellow freshman Matthew Ideler was also busy showing off some skills, taking second place on floor with an 8.8 and pommel horse with a 7.3. Another freshman, Eric Samuta, added an 8.5 on floor and 7.4 on parallel bars for the Hilltoppers.

"We're feeling pretty good with where we're at already," Glenbard West senior specialist Joey Mandarino said. "The guys are working hard and trying to clean up their routines as best as they can and then go out and do them."

Mandarino was second on still rings with an 8.8.

Glenbard South senior Eugene Boguslavsky, normally an all-arounder, was limited to only a few events, winning high bar with an 8. The Raiders were able to capture second place and received a 39.35 in the all-around from junior Eric McGovern.

Senior Mike Seho added a 7.7 on floor, senior Dylan Bihun had a 6.6 on both pommel horse and parallel bars and Jimmy Glowacki scored a 7.6 on vault for the Raiders.

Senior Melik Prum paced Glenbard East. Prum's top score was an 8 on vault. He finished with a 38.1 in the all-around. Junior John Ivey added a 6.3 on still rings and parallel bars, junior Kobe Mejia posted a 7.8 on floor and senior Han Luu had a team-high 6 on pommel horse.

"Today was a preview, I think, of where we're going to be this season," Rams coach Joon Yun said. "We improved from our last meet a little, which is what we hope to do each time."

The hosts were at a major disadvantage in the scoring, as they counted all three participant scores on floor, pommel horse, vault and high bar, and only had Daniel Garrison and sophomore Luke Meister score on still rings and parallel bars.

Meister was the only all-arounder for the Panthers, finishing with a 37.7.

"Not having a full team hurt us, but you only do what you can do," he said. "I'm just working hard trying to get my all-around score. I'm still struggling on high bar and p-bars, but horse continues to be one of my better events. It went well today."

  Tommy Berland of Glenbard West on the rings during the District 87 boys gymnastics meet Thursday at Glenbard North High School. Paul Michna/pmichna@dailyherald.com
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