Batavia edges friendly rival Geneva

Rather than doing everything in their power to defeat each other, Batavia and Geneva simply left it all out on the mat in respect and love for gymnastics.

It's certainly a friendly rivalry and one that was competitive as ever during Wednesday's dual meet at Geneva's Mack Olson Gym as the visiting Bulldogs hung on to edge the Vikings, 134.1 to 133.2.

"It's always fun to beat them," Batavia senior Taylor Novotny said. "I think most of us get along with the Geneva girls. I personally know some of them. We really don't have a rivalry, but I think seeing each other helps us both."

Neither team had competed since Dec. 28.

"We were a little rusty, but hopefully we'll get back in the swing of things," Geneva coach Kim Hostman said. "We're putting some new skills in and we had some falls, which is understandable. It was a super good meet score-wise."

It was a rare meet in that a different gymnast won every event. Novotny won vault and Olivia Bartolotta won floor for Batavia while Kathryn Wendt won beam and Olivia Takesue won bars for Geneva.

"I've been working on a pike on my second vault but messed it up," Novotny said. "But I like where my tuck is at since it's been pretty consistent. But the tuck is worth more so I'd like to do that."

Bartolotta had a slight slip-up on one of her jumps on floor but she still earned an 8.9.

"I felt pretty good about it," she said. "I can easily go back and fix my jump. My tumbling was pretty good so I felt good with my routine."

Haley Salus was second on vault and bars, Natalie Hayden placed second on floor and third on vault and Hannah Vrba tied for third on beam for the Bulldogs.

Takesue acknowledged that her night was a typical one for the Vikings, winning the all-around with a 34.1.

"It was about the same as it's been scoring-wise," she said. "I thought my floor was pretty good and bars was good. I had a fall on beam, but besides that, it was pretty solid."

Geneva's lone senior, Caitlin Cook, competed in three events, which included an 8.7 on vault for fifth place. She was also fourth on floor.

"I'm having fun with all of this since it's my last year and I've got nothing to lose," she said. "I like challenging myself and pushing myself. It's a really hard sport and I feel it shapes you as a person and teaches you good life skills."

Kate Nitschke added a second-place finish on beam and third place effort on bars for the Vikings.

Kaneland senior Alexis Kerrins represented the Knights as an individual and tied for second on beam.

"Beam is my favorite event," she said. "I was nervous going first because my other teammates were out sick, but I pulled through. I felt confident and really focused. I'm glad I made it."