Downers Grove South takes Big Purple

Downers Grove South had never won the Mike Williams Big Purple Invite.

Freshman Abby Carlson had never competed in a high school girls gymnastics invitational.

All of that changed on Saturday afternoon at Downers Grove North as the Mustangs edged Fremd in the 12-team meet, 104.95 to 103.775.

It kind of makes sense that a unique Mustangs team would win an invite that features an atypical format. Rather than tabulating four scores in each event, teams only count their top three scores.

What sets the Mustangs apart from most teams is sisters. They have two sets of them on their team, which is quite a rarity.

Kayla Carlson and Abby Carlson performed liked sisters, nearly matching each other's scores, although Kayla edged her younger sister, 35.15 to 35.025 to finish second in the all-around.

Emily Tom was fifth in the all-around with a 34.35 while her young sister Lindsay Tom contributed an 8.05 on bars.

"It's an interesting dynamic with two sets of sisters and it's a fun group to work with," Mustangs coach Kristyn Campos said. "I enjoy working with them immensely. It's a little different, but it's a lot of fun. I think of them more as my kids so I enjoy being in the gym with them."

Abby Carlson won the floor exercise with a 9.3 and tied for first on bars with a 9.075.

"I had a lot of fun out there, especially with it being my first invite," she said. "It's crazy. Our goal was to come out and do the best we can and we end up getting first place. It shows our hard work in the gym."

The Mustangs join Fremd and Lyons as the only programs to ever win the highly regarded early-season invite.

The Vikings, who had won the invite 20 of the past 23 years, settled for second place. Melanie Ng tied for first on bars with a 9.075, Abby Moran was second on floor with a 9.25 and Carly DeFilippo was second on vault with a 9.175 and third on floor with a 9.2.

Hersey's Alysa Zurlo took fourth in the all-around with a 34.925 while Mackenzie Kamysz added a 34.075 and Allie Heidrich a 33.45 to help the Huskies place third. It was their best finish since 2002.

Host Downers Grove North was fourth with a 102.3 behind Madi Johnson claiming the title on beam with a 9.425.

Naperville Central only managed a 22.95 on bars but earned fifth place with a 97.075. Natalie Stephans had a 31.45 in the all-around and Samantha Barber added a 30.8 for the young Redhawks. Half of their gymnasts on Saturday were freshmen.

"In our first meet we had eight falls on beam, (on Saturday) we only had one," Redhawks coach Glen Reimers said "We scored six points better and this was with two judges, so I told them good job. They really stepped up which was nice to see."

Glenbard East was sixth with a 96.925 and Veronika Srey was sixth in the all-around with a 34.325. She was also fourth on bars with an 8.775.

Emma Pawelkiewicz's 32.5 helped U-46 co-op tie Sandburg/Stagg co-op for seventh place with a 96.85.

Naperville North freshman Leah Molloy took fourth on vault with a 9.05 and the Huskies took 11th place with an 88. Vault has always been Molloy's top event.

"When I did my first one I told myself that I wanted to get this," she said. "The second one is always nervous so I wanted to get it on my first one, so when I landed it I was really happy."