A 'great start' for Glenbard East

Glenbard East hopes to score regularly in the 130s this winter.

The Rams nearly got there during their season opener, finishing in third place in Wednesday's Hinsdale South Hornet Invite with a total of 129.95 points.

Hinsdale Central edged Lyons Twp. 131.55 to 131 to win the eight-team invite.

"Our goal for the season is to hit in the 130s and to keep it there, and we almost got there," Rams coach Jessica Bugajsky said. "It was a great start. We're a younger team this year and I don't have any seniors, which is exciting. They hit some routines, and with some others they're not quite there yet, but they'll hopefully get there."

Veronika Srey led Glenbard East. The sophomore dazzled on beam, winning with a 9.1.

"Beam has always been hard, but I worked on it a lot over the summer," she said. "I had a lot of struggles with it and I had to get over my fears. It was a really good start. I'm happy to see the hard work pay off."

Srey was also especially strong on floor, placing second with a 9. She finished third in the all-around with a 34.225.

"We did really good," she said. "Compared to last year we're doing way better already."

Krasimira Ganeva scored a 32.275 and Sierra Olson contributed a 32.05 in the all-around for the Rams. Ganeva was also fifth on vault with an 8.825 and eighth on floor with an 8.35 while Olson took ninth on bars with an 8.05.

Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley co-op placed fifth with a 126.3 in new coach Phillip Gilmer's debut.

"As long as we finished our routines and landed on our feet I was going to be happy," Gilmer said. "They did really well. We had a couple of girls finally sticking some things that they hadn't been doing, so all in all it was a good start."

Claire Samojedny placed third on vault and floor with a 9 and 8.9, respectively, to lead the co-op.

"I was very happy with my vault," she said. "Last year I didn't progress to a pike until the very end. This year I hope to get a layout and get to state."

Other notable scores for Waubonsie/Metea Valley co-op included Melissa Martin's 8.75 on vault and Jessica Houghton's 8 on beam and 8.4 on floor.

"Obviously, we were all nervous coming in," Samojedney said. "We want to kick butt this year so we're really focusing a lot on our routines and conditioning. We came in nervous since it was the first meet but I'm very proud of how we did.

Neuqua Valley took seventh place with a 124.45.

Colleen Moauro had an 8.1 on beam and 7.45 on floor while Shalinee Abraham scored an 8.7 on vault and Olivia Nelson earned an 8.1 on bars to pace the Wildcats.

Lyons' Olivia Kalata won vault with a 9.1.

Hinsdale South senior Maddie Nowak won floor with a 9.1 and bars with a 9.25 en route to securing the all-around title with a 36.3.

"I just wanted to have fun at the meet and not be nervous," Nowak said. "Things went all right."