Girls gymnastics: Conant takes down Fremd, Hoffman

The first meet after the winter break is usually rough for gymnastics teams. Conant changed that custom Wednesday.

The Cougars posted a season-best 144.70 to win a triangular meet with Fremd, which scored a 141.20, and Hoffman Estates, which finished with a 135.00.

"This winter break was pretty productive," Conant coach Anthony Avella said. "The girls were working hard and they were trying new tricks on every event. We had good productive practices and consistency in our gym."

Conant was led by Danielle Smith. The junior was second on both the vault (9.40) and the floor (9.35). Smith picked up the Cougars, who struggled on the beam. Smith won the event with a career-best 9.50.

"I knew I had to make up for our struggles earlier," said Smith, who was second in the all-around with a 36.80. "The practices over winter break helped me because I was able to get my skills more consistent. I knew I had to come out strong."

Julia Betts also came out strong for the Cougars. The senior posted a career-high 9.45 on the floor to win that event.

"I am so excited," said Betts, who had an all-around score of 35.40. "Over winter break, we did routine after routine after routine. All the repetition helped a lot and helped us jump-start in our improvements."

Conant also got big performances from freshman Sofia Presta, who had a 35.65 in the all-around, and Lea Faouaz, who scored a 35.45 on the all-around. Allegra Chap, Julia Grzesik and Mikaela Kaminski also did well as specialists in their events.

Fremd had a very good break until last Saturday when Katie Vessel was injured. The Vikings still were able to bounce back Wednesday to top the 140-mark.

"We were without Katie and that changed our lineup quite a bit," Fremd coach Kacey Kronforst said. "It was a little setback. But I felt people stepped up and competed did a real good job."

Sam Shirmer came up big for the Vikings. The senior won the bars with a solid performance, scoring a 9.40

"I have been working in bars a lot," Shirmer said. "As a team we worked hard over break and we were really ready and excited to come out here for this meet. It was hard not having Katie out there competing with us."

The Vikings got nice performances from freshmen Abigail Gallicho, who had a 35.25 in the all-around, and Kacey Tokunaga, who scored a 34.70. Ella Gray, Cate Banzen, Gina Aretos and Riley Kruse also performed well.

Hoffman Estates' duo of Elyssay Wuerffel and Sol Serratos helped carry the day for the Hawks. Wuerffel won the all-around with a 36.85 while Serratos was third with a 35.80.

"It was a little rusty coming back out here," said Wuerffel, who also won the vault with a 9.45. "I just had fun today and didn't really worry about it."

The Hawks also got huge efforts from Paige Biggs, Lillian Cabral and Hunter Frye.

"We are always worried about that first one back after break because it is a tough one," Hoffman Estates coach Dave Calisch said. "We came out and had a good move in the right direction for us. There are still lots of stuff for us to work and lots of stuff for us to clean up."