Glenbard East gets to work with a victory

O.J. Miles didn't feel well and Matt Piszcek wasn't satisfied with his performance.

While these Glenbard East gymnasts didn't feel or perform at their best during Wednesday's meet at Naperville Central, Miles was still victorious in three events while Piszczek posted the best all-around score to lead the Rams to a 118.1 to 106.1 victory over the Redhawks.

"I could've done a lot better today, but I fell on a lot of events," Piszczek said. "I could've done better. I just want to come out and hit my routines well. I didn't do that this time. I'll work on doing it better and I hope to add some more skills to my routines, but before I can do that I've got to hit."

Piszczek is only a freshman but is a huge addition to the team. He's been a gymnast now for five years so he brings a lot of experience. His presence alleviates a little of the void that's in the lineup this spring since Marc Le, who took eighth in the state last year in the all-around, graduated.

Piszczek posted the top score on high bar with a 7.2.

As for Miles, the junior simply didn't feel like his normal self, but he still went out and won the floor, vault and parallel bars.

"The meet was OK," he said. "I wasn't feeling 100 percent. I was kind of fatigued today."

Still, he pushed himself through the meet, realizing that athletes aren't always feeling their best, especially gymnasts who often compete as the walking wounded.

"It helps knowing my teammates always have my back and can count on me to push through pain or whatever and do it for my team," Miles said. "I'm hoping to go to state again and not just on one event. I went last year on vault, but I want to go on vault and floor this year."

Eddie Pojman took second on pommel horse, Haroun Aidaas was third on still rings and Jake Heabel was second on parallel bars and third on high bar for the winners.

Competing for the first time this season, the Redhawks received an uplifting effort from senior Jeremy Venegas, who missed last season due to injuries.

Venegas won still rings. He also was second in the all-around with a 36, placing third on vault and parallel bars.

"He did really well on rings and likes rings a lot," Redhawks coach Glen Reimers said. "He's strong, and he listens to me, which is nice."

Tim Froehlich won pommel horse for the Redhawks, David Majka was second on floor and still rings and third on pommel horse and the all-around while junior specialist Ryan Belanger contributed to the team total on three events.

"I did pretty good and so did our team," Belanger said. "For our first meet I'm pretty happy. We're trying to get new skills and we've already made progress since last year. We pulled through more than I thought we would. I think it's just getting past the mental block."

Belanger likes the makeup of this year's team in Reimers' final year coaching. The Redhawks aren't going to be one of the top scoring teams in the state, but that doesn't mean they cannot make great strides this spring while enjoying the sport among their buddies.

"It's a lot more fun being on varsity with my friends," Belanger said. "This is a nice group of guys and we're all going through the hard work and dedication and practicing together. That brings us closer and makes it a lot more fun."