Mundelein showing promise
The boys gymnastics season is just getting started, but Mundelein is showing that it will once again be a team to be reckoned with this spring.
The Mustangs were impressive in their own gym Wednesday night, rolling to a 145.3 to 127.7 Independent Conference victory over Libertyville.
Mundelein improved its record to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in the league.
Mundelein senior Colin McCarthy also displayed why he is one of the top-two ranked returning gymnasts in the state, as he rolled to the all-around championship with an 8.92 average.
Libertyville senior Alex Pong took second place in the all-around competition with a 7.98 average (47.9 points) to outdistance Mundelein senior Cameron Mueller (7.73, 46.4).
The Mustangs' seniors shined with Jacob Petri (44.3) placing fourth in the all-around, while sophomore Brandon Swanson (43.4 points) was fifth.
"I'm happy with the score. We've had a couple of meets with down scores, so this gets us back to the mid-high 140's," said Mundelein coach Jesse Piland, whose team has already recorded a season-high 146.1 points. "We've obviously got some things to work on, but I'm happy with floor exercise, vault and rings, and parallel bars was decent as well."
McCarthy's performance included first-place marks of 9.3 on parallel bars, 9.3 on vault, 9.0 on pommel horse, 8.5 on still rings and 8.3 on high bar when he had to count a fall. McCarthy and Pong (9.1) tied for first place on floor exercise.
"I'm doing pretty good. We're all fresh, and we're just happy to be back in the gym working out," said McCarthy, who placed fourth in the state all-around as a junior. "The seniors have helped lead the team, and they have the extra energy in the gym to help motivate the underclassmen."
Libertyville (0-2, 0-1) opened the season with a 128.5 Saturday against Naperville Central. The Wildcats have been consistent, despite trying to work through some trouble areas.
"We counted a lot of falls tonight and we definitely struggled on high bar," said Libertyville coach Josh Cimo, whose team scored 16.9 points on high bar. "Adrian (Metcalf) has worked out only twice before this meet so his tricks are just not as polished as they would be if he had two or three weeks of practice like everybody else."
Mueller took second place on vault (9.1), while Pong and Mueller (8.4) tied for second on still rings. Pong also captured runner-up honors on parallel bars (8.8) and high bar (6.2). Swanson placed second on pommel horse with a 6.8.
"The potential is there. We need a little more polish and a little more work," said Piland, whose team scored a meet-high 27.2 points on vault. "Hopefully it will be there at the end of the season."
Libertyville's Jack Burke took third place on vault with a 9.0 to outdistance Swanson with a fourth-place score of 8.8.
Petri placed third on parallel bars with an 8.4, while Libertyville's Ben Reichert placed fourth with a 7.9. Mueller added a third-place 8.7 on floor exercise with Swanson (8.3) placing fourth on that event.
"Pong had a better start to the meet (than Saturday), and overall his form cleaned up a lot," said Cimo, whose team hit a 26.1 on vault. "It's only our second meet of the season so we're expecting an increase in our scores, and there is still room for improvement."
Both Mundelein and Libertyville will be heading south for the powerful Hinsdale Central Invitational Friday night.