Girls gymnastics: Depth helps Glenbard West take title at Naperville North

Skylar Oh won bars and floor on Saturday afternoon to lead Glenbard West to first place in the Naperville North Invitational.

The Hilltoppers won with a 140.2 while runner-up Downers Grove co-op scored a 138.675 and Hersey placed third with a 137.875.

"I'm just happy because my bars and floor were finally consistent and I made the routines that I wanted to," Oh said. "I had good ones in practice so I was happy to make them today and contribute the best for my team."

Alina Bhagwakar and Sammie Hopper led the Hilltoppers in the all-around, placing fifth and sixth with a 34.75 and 34.675, respectively.

"This is the first big invitational for us and it really helps us to think more about improving our skills and everything," Oh said. "We were really happy to come back from beam. That was the main win for us."

Autumn White led the Hilltoppers on beam with an 8.425 but the team only scored a 32.3 overall while posting a 34.15 during Wednesday's dual meet against Hinsdale Central.

"We had a tough day on beam, but we knew the other events would be there to pick us up," Oh said. "There is a lot of depth here. It's good that there are five of us that are pretty solid so you know the next one can pick us up if there's a fall."

Downers Grove co-op's Kate Snouffer led her team, taking fourth in the all-around with a 35.525, while Emily Smetana took second on floor with a 9.075 and was fourth on beam with an 8.675. Katrina Carlson scored a 34.5 in the all-around while Smetana finished with a 34.3.

Hersey freshman Sabrina Nemcek is part of a team that's really good already and only going to get better.

Nemcek was second on the all-around with a 35.95. She was third on vault and bars and second on beam.

"I was really happy with how we did today," she said. "We crushed it and had a lot of fun. I hope we can continue to do really good the rest of the way."

Emma Hupp added a 34.15 in the all-around for Hersey while Elise Forsline was second on bars with a 9.2 and Grace Johnson was sixth with a 9.

"I'm really proud of them," Hersey coach Shannon Barrett said. "They work really hard and it's a young team. I have three seniors, but a full stack of freshmen and more talent is not even here yet with injuries, and finding lineup space is hard. I'm very fortunate. We have a very good group of girls and probably the strongest group I've coached in my years at Hersey."

Barrett was super pleased with the team hitting on beam.

"Even though the scores didn't show it, we stuck 5-for-5 and we started off on beam and kept the momentum going for the whole meet," she said. "We finished on bars where my girls are amazing at it. A lot of coaches came up to us after congratulating us saying you guys are really good at bars."

Hinsdale Central senior Kelly Klobach won the all-around title with a 36.875.

"I would say it was one of my better meets," she said. "Bars was a little rough, but besides that it was one of my better meets."

Klobach won beam with a 9.3. She took second on vault with a 9.425 and tied Naperville North's Khya Smith for third on floor with a 9.05 and also was third on bars with a 9.1.

"I'm definitely happy with where I'm at," she said. "There are some little things that I can improve on so I'll be working on that during this little week off. The season is getting towards the end at this point so now it's just preparing for conference and sectionals and all that."

Prospect's Emily Gianfrancesco took third in the all-around with a 35.625 and won the vault with a 9.45 to help her team take fifth place with a 133.825.

The host Huskies were sixth with a 133.45 and followed by Glenbard East's 130.95, York's 126 and Naperville Central's 110.525. Palatine and Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley co-op were scheduled to compete but were late drops.