Lake Park places third at Neuqua Valley invite

Prairie Ridge co-op has done some amazing things in girls gymnastics in recent years.

Excluding a 9.3 on beam became the latest feat for the defending state champion.

Maddie Solka earned the 9.3 during Saturday afternoon's Neuqua Valley Invite, but the team didn't need it because four of her teammates outscored her.

That beam effort was undoubtedly the biggest highlight for Prairie Ridge co-op's hodgepodge lineup, which won the invite with 144.6 points and without the use of a single all-arounder. Runner-up Lincoln-Way co-op scored a 142.1.

Lake Park didn't go full strength either but still had enough talent to earn third place with a 141.45.

"We were giving some of the girls a chance to rest and heal up," Lancers coach Jake Luketin said. "If we had all the girls in the lineup like we normally would, then it would be 4 meets in 8 days, which is too much. Today, we showcased our depth and still put up a respectable score."

All-arounder Izzy Shaw only competed on bars, while Kelly Zehnder competed as the team's only all-arounder and placed third. Marissa DiBenedetto was third on vault and Nina Gallichio was second on bars for the Lancers.

Waubonsie/Metea Valley co-op took fourth place with a 132.1. Claire Samojedny led the way, taking fourth in the all-around.

"She's been doing fantastic and this was the first time she's been called up (to the award stand) all season," Waubonsie/Metea Valley co-op coach Phil Gilmer said. "If she get her beam up then she could score 9s in all four events."

Hinsdale South's Maddie Nowak won the all-around, vault and bars to help the Hornets to fifth place with a 129.65.

Finally healthy, Neuqua Valley's full squad was able to compete, finishing in sixth place with a 128.7.

Olivia Nelson was fifth in the all-around to lead the Wildcats.

"I was really happy with how we did," Wildcats coach Darragh McDermott said. "We've had a lot of injuries this season so it was nice to finally have our full team. We had some silly falls on beam, but we were solid for the most part of the meet."

Addison Trail took seventh place with a 125.75. Kennedy O'Neill had a pair of Top 10 effort on beam and bars.

But Prairie Ridge's show couldn't be ignored.

"We've got 11 candidates for those five spots and each meet we've been playing around with different rotations," Prairie Ridge co-op assistant coach Lisa Rumford said. "There was more of that today and it was especially difficult with (coach) Lee (Battaglia) gone."

Battaglia was in Las Vegas coaching a club team. His absence created a concern on vault and bars, because he coaches those two events while Rumford is responsible for floor and beam.

"We had to pick a lineup specifically by who was mentally stable to go without him there," she said. "Since they're so used to seeing Lee on vault and bars, it's so different for them to see me standing there."

Contributions up and down the lineup were aplenty as Maddy Kim, Kira Karlbom and Kat Schaffer scored a 9.0 or higher on a single event, while Solka, Alyssa Petke, Liz Sysol and Nikki Baars did it twice.

Their wow moment on beam was surprising since it was the same one that they had a mistake-riddled effort on during Monday's dual meet at Neuqua Valley.

"They did terrible. We had five up and five falls and I thought, 'Seriously, aren't we a better beam group than that?," Lisa Rumford said. "So that was them doing a lot of routines and a lot of extra sets to get better."

Baars, Kendall Rumford, Petke and Kim provided the counting scores on beam, totaling an impressive 37.7.

The beam lineup you saw today will most likely be the one we have for regional, sectional, state," Lisa Rumford said. "At least we have that one locked down."

Prairie Ridge co-op also had the top three scores on floor behind Karlblom, Baars and Schaffer.