Glenbard West takes first step
Glenbard West's seniors competed at home for the final time on Thursday, but the Hilltoppers aren't anywhere close to being done.
The Hilltoppers took their first step toward defending their state title, scoring 147.625 points to win Thursday's Glenbard West regional, finishing well in front of Geneva, Batavia and Glenbard South.
"The goal is to make it back to the state meet and that's our goal every year as individuals and as a team," Hilltoppers coach Carlos Fuentes said. "You check this one off and now try to prepare for the sectional because nothing is guaranteed for anyone at anytime."
Senior Maddie Diab's performance might make an argument otherwise. Diab won bars, beam and floor, tied for fifth on vault and captured the all-around title with a 37.75.
"The postseason is always fun," Diab said. "I'm just excited to keep moving forward for my last season as a Hilltopper. I'm just excited. We did well. We had some mistakes here and there, but we have a couple of days in practice to fix them up for sectionals."
The regional was postponed on Wednesday due to the frigid conditions and began at 2 p.m., creating a new experience for the gymnasts. Senior Maia Lee just rolled with it, and even experienced something on bars that she said never has happened before.
"We didn't have a good warm-up on bars so we were a little bit nervous," she said. "But once Claire (McGurk) started and hit her routine, we were a little more pumped to do it and it was my first time sticking a dismount so that was pretty exciting."
Senior Taylor Ramirez won vault and placed second in the all-around with a 36.6.
The Hilltoppers had the top five finishers on bars. They also had the top three on beam and floor as seven gymnasts qualified individually in 18 events, including the all-around. Seniors Katherine Hoban and Abby Myers and sophomore Anna Diab were among the qualifiers along with the aforementioned Hilltoppers.
"Overall I think we did pretty well in the meet and we had practiced a lot harder coming into it," Lee said. "It's hard to believe, but we only have 15 more days left (before state). It's crazy to think about not coming here every day anymore."
Geneva's Olivia Takesue scored a 34.05 and Kathryn Wendt had a 33.625 as the sophomores finished in fourth and fifth place, respectively, in the all-around to advance to Monday's sectional.
"I think this was a pretty good meet for all of us," Wendt said. "I think we did pretty well."
Takesue averaged an 8.525 per event with a high of 8.925 on floor.
"I'm super excited," Takesue said. "It's exciting that even individuals can move on. We were really looking forward to the team going, but it'll be fun because everyone will come and the whole team will be there."
Senior Gracie De Vita led the Vikings on vault with an 8.85 and freshman Kate Nitsche paced them on bars with an 8.35.
Wendt also advanced on floor, taking fourth place with a 9.1 while senior teammate Sophia Hostasa has a good shot of snagging an at-large berth on beam after taking sixth place with an 8.775.
Geneva, which has endured more than its share of adversity this season with a teachers' strike, illness and injuries, took second as a team with a 134.35.
"We've had a really inconsistent year so it's been a little rough," Vikings coach Kim Hostman said. "But all in all we came out and worked really hard on beam and it showed today. We've been right around 135 and we're just under that so I'm pleased with how it turned out and am hopeful we can get a few more girls through."
Taylor Novotny was the lone sectional qualifier for Batavia. The junior took fourth place on vault with a 9.05.
"Vault is my favorite and I always score my highest on vault," she said. "So I was hoping that I would qualify for it, but I wasn't sure because everyone else did really well here today."
Novotny also took seventh in the all-around with a 32.425 while fellow junior Olivia Bartolotta had a 31.55.
The team season may be complete for the Bulldogs, who took third place with a 129.75, but they're a team on the rise. Beam specialist Lillian Baty-Barr was the only senior to compete for Batavia, as the rest of its lineup featured two freshmen, two sophomores and three juniors.
"We have a lot of good freshmen also coming in so next year should be really good too," Novotny said. "We're excited."
Glenbard South quietly earned a season high with a 108.425, shattering its previous high of a 107.8.
Katie Kibbey scored a 31.65 in the all-around to take eighth place for the Raiders. Kibbey also led the Raiders scoring-wise in all four events while senior teammates Mackenzie Goetz, Skylar Maloney, Melissa Blaber, Bianca Lupa, Maya Reiser and Julia Scalf competed for the last time.
"Ending with a season high just goes to show how amazing these girls have been," Raiders coach Lee Wood said. "Our seniors will be missed greatly and embody how hard work and dedication pays off."