Freshmen shine in Geneva's regional win

Having first names that end in 'y' is not the only thing that Geneva's five freshmen have in common. They're also very, very good.

Debuting in their first regional at Geneva on Wednesday, they combined to chip in with five counting scores as the Vikings cruised to victory with 146.425 points, easily surpassing the 130.85 tallied by U-46 co-op.

"They're young and they're handling the pressure well," Geneva coach Kim Hostman said. "They've been working in practice to get ready for the postseason and today was a real good test to see how they'll perform at sectional and hopefully at state."

Holly Friedel led the freshmen with a 9.3 on beam and an 8.875 on bars, while Lily Chapman earned a 9.075 on vault, Bailey Pihera contributed a 9.025 on beam and Kelly Frank, who just returned from a broken foot, still scored an 8.65 on floor. Molly Lambillotte added an 8.55 on floor, but the Vikings didn't need it.

Once again, Geneva received a big night from sophomore all-arounder Claire Ginsberg who scored a 38 and won all four events, including a 9.675 on beam. Fellow sophomore Julia Grootens, who was nursing a bad ankle, watered down her routines a bit, but still earned a 9 on floor and 9.325 on beam.

"Coming in we knew we had to set a goal for us to hit and build on that," Hostman said. "The camaraderie we have on the team and the support we're getting from everybody, the freshmen, the sophomores and the senior captains, has been strong."

Those seniors are doing it with their scores as well as their leadership behind the scenes. Grace Ginsberg took second in the all-around with a 35.75 and contributed to the team total in everything but beam. Megan Beitzel added a vault of 9.25 and a 9.05 on bars.

"We just tried to keep the momentum going from conference since we did so well," Grace Ginsberg said. "We didn't want to take a step back and now we have a little more time to work in the gym to get ready for sectionals."

Grace Ginsberg made sure her young teammates were well prepared for the meet, especially since six of them were in a regional for the first time.

"We just tried to keep them relaxed before they had to go since they're so young and didn't know about how regionals, sectionals and state work," she said. "That's probably good because we told them to not worry about anything but going out there and hitting, and that's what they did."

It proved to be an emotional night for the Ginbergs as it marked the last time the two would compete together in comfy Mack Olson gym. It's something Grace has experienced previously when she was teammates with older sister, Jenna.

"Claire starting crying at the end of the meet and we've been competing together since I was in fifth grade so having her helps me a lot," Grace said. "Soon I'd start thinking about what skills I have to do next year, but I don't have to worry about that. Now I'm just worrying about doing my best in hopefully two more meets."

U-46 co-op sophomores Ashley McKee and Emma Pawelkiewicz finished in fourth and fifth respectively in the all-around with a 34.125 and 32.975 to also advance to next Tuesday's Glenbard North sectional.

McKee also qualified on bars with an 8.8 and beam with an 8.75.

"I'm very excited. There was a lot of energy with our group," she said. "The team did really well too, much better than the last time we were here."

Addison Trail took third with a 127.2. Sophomore Kennedy O'Neill was the Blazers only automatic sectional qualifier. She took third in the all-around with a 35.375 and also placed on bars with an 8.8, vault with an 8.95 and floor with a 9.

"I was happy, especially with my floor because it was a good routine," she said. "But, I can always do better and hopefully I will next week."