Neuqua Valley has best meet of season

With it being a Saturday and the snow coming down, Neuqua Valley's gymnasts had to be tempted to stay home and lounge in their pajamas all day.

Instead, the Wildcats kept their jammies on and then jammed at their own Neuqua Valley Invite, enjoying their best meet of the season with a 137.825 but settling for fourth place among the strong competition.

Prairie Ridge co-op won with a 143.575. Lincoln-Way co-op placed second, and Lake Park took third with a 138.8.

"We always have a theme for our invite which makes it a lot more fun," Wildcats senior Olivia Nelson said. "It reduces the amount of stress that we have. Last year we had an '80s theme and before that we wore Hawaiian shirts and had beach balls bouncing around."

Sophomore Jane Riehs was more than a point better in the all-around than she's been this season, winning with a 37.075 and narrowly edging Prairie Ridge co-op senior Maddy Kim's 36.950. Kim won bars, floor and vault while Riehs didn't win a single event.

The big difference for Riehs came on bars and beam.

"Bars was huge because I got my bail back," she said. "I had a fear, a mental block. I had been shaky. I was scoring an 8.5 at most without my bail, but I finally put it in and didn't fall and got a 9. If that's going to be my best score, I'm OK with that."

One would think the beam would come naturally after she finished second in the state last season, but it hasn't. She tied Prairie Ridge co-op's Sydney Hallsten with a 9.3 for top honors on Saturday.

"I'm doing the same stuff on beam, but I guess I'm a little more nervous this year," she said. "Taking such a long break and not being in the gym with diving. I think it's taken a while to get my skills back and it's been a mental block so I guess I'm still working my way back."

The Wildcats were strongest on beam with Riehs, Baylee Modaff and Nelson finishing 2-3-4. The trio made the biggest contributions to the team point total, while Susan Jones, Imani Porter and Amelia Wachtel also delivered.

"I know we got fourth, but this was still really good for us," Riehs said. "I'm so proud of all the girls that competed today."

The Lancers also had a season high and were competing without one of their top gymnasts. Julia Kurek was out sick.

"We've had 12 different lineups so it's always something in every single meet," Lancers coach Jake Luketin said. "We're getting close and Julie is usually the second or third scorer on at least three events so she would've give us a little bit of a boost."

Lake Park junior Racquel Suhr provided a huge boost on bars, tying for second place with a new routine that garnered her a 9.2.

"She's worked on it all year and it finally came together," Luketin said. "She got it competition ready and that's eight-tenths of a bonus. Not a lot of girls have that bonus on bars and that basically gives the team a boost of a whole point."

Batavia was fifth with a 132.55. Olivia Bartolotta took eighth on floor with a 9.0 and Taylor Novotny had a 33.25 in the all-around for the Bulldogs.

Bartolotta hopes to add a one-and-a-half front or back to one of her passes before the season ends. For now, she's added a back full, which was on display.

"I thought I did pretty good this meet," she said. "But before the season is over I'd still like to upgrade my passes."

Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley co-op took a step back with sixth place and a 131.05 after scoring a 134.05 in the same gym on Thursday. Thera Bowen led the Warstangs with a 33.5 in the all-around, including a 9.2 on vault to tie for eighth.

As for champion Prairie Ridge co-op, it's business as usually as it gears up for another deep postseason run.

"We've had our ups and downs and are not at our peak where we'd want to be, but that's OK," Kim said. "We obviously want to peak later in the season more towards state, so I think today was a good time to get all the bugs out before the more competitive meets start."

With only two returning gymnasts from a program that has won three state titles and been runner-up three times in the last six years, excellence is expected out of Prairie Ridge.

"It's a different aspect of the whole team this year," Kim said "They're finally figuring out how everything works and how it's more of a team aspect than 'I want to win because I want to beat her,' it's 'I want to win so we can win as a team together.'"

Grace Willis finished third in the all-around with a 36.675 and Hallsten tied for sixth with a 35.25 for Prairie Ridge.