Fremd holds off Barrington, Palatine
Fremd, Barrington and Palatine all have a strong history in girls gymnastics.
So it was no wonder that a near capacity crowd was on hand Thursday at Barrington when the three schools matched up in a triangular meet.
The meet was as hotly contested as expected as Fremd held off its two Mid-Suburban West West competitors, scoring a 141.85. Barrington edged Palatine 140.95 to 140.90.
"It was an unbelievable atmosphere," Barrington coach Jason Loeffler said. "We had to turn the music all the way for the floor routines. We have never had to do that before. It was like a mini-invite here."
It was Fremd's floor exercise that catapulted the Vikings to the top score.
Palatine's Aylssa Eckels posted the top score in the event with a 9.45. Fremd, however, secured the next four spots to score a 36.85. Kate Watson led the Vikings with a 9.35 while Sam Shirmer and Katie Vessell each had scores of 9.20 and Gianna Christodoulopoulos had 9.10.
"We did quite well on the floor," Fremd coach Kacey Kronforst said. "It really helped us."
Thanks to Shirmer, the Vikings were able to stay in contention.
Shirmer finished third in the all-around with a 36.15 and also won both the vault and bars with scores of 9.50. Shirmer tied for honors on the vault with Barington's Sarah Ruesch and with Barrington's Lauren Tenbrunsel on the bars.
"It was good," said Shirmer, who is a junior. "It was rough trying to get back into meet mode after the break because we had the two weeks off. We performed very well except for the beam."
Fremd scored just a 32.10 on the event. But Barrington, which was on the floor, came up with just a 35.60 on the event while Palatine, which was on the bars, scored a 34.80. Neither was enough to catch the Vikings.
"Beam has been our nightmare," Kronforst said. "It is kind of a bad dream and I feel it is a reoccurring bad dream. It is good that we won, but with these mistakes it will get us only so far."
Barrington got nice performances from Ruesch, who had a 34.40 in the all-around, and Tenbrunsel, who was second in the all-around with a 36.40. Jade Morantz, Alana Riemenschader and Brooke Husby also competed well for the Fillies.
"I thought we competed well," Loeffel said. "It just wasn't enough. We had an opportunity to win it with the floor. I thought our routines were petty good. We just need to score better."
Palatine, which still has some key injuries, was able to stay in contention thanks to Eckels and Kristen Ure, who won the beam with a 9.00. Samantha Morgensen, who had a 34.95 all-around score along with Jocie Waddington, Elly Nilsen, Jessica Streepy and Kelsey Bauer were also key factors.
"It was good," Palatine coach Terry Theobald said. "We are coming off some injuries and Christmas break. Overall, they are doing what we expect of them. We are looking to get ready for the end of the conference season and state meet."
With the wins Thursday, Fremd took over sole possession of the West with Barrington behind by one loss. Palatine is 3 back of the Vikings.
All three of those teams will be together again at the MSL conference meet on January 23 at Conant.