Girls gymnastics: Geneva continues dominant season with Neuqua Valley title

After years of thinking about joining the gymnastics team at Geneva, Sadie Karlson finally became a Viking this season.

The senior and her teammates are thrilled with the decision as Karlson won three events and the all-around title to lead Geneva to its third invite win of the season on Saturday with a season-high 144.55 points at Neuqua Valley.

Lake Park was second with 142.65 and Lincoln-Way co-op was third with 140.75.

"I said I was going to try out every single year of high school and then I didn't end up going out until senior year because it didn't work out," Karlson said. "I'm really glad that I decided to because it's been like the best. I'm having more fun with gymnastics than I ever have."

And gymnastics hasn't been this strong in Geneva since the Vikings took second place in the state in 2015.

"I think we did really well today," Geneva junior Brooke Lussnig said. "Obviously, there are some areas where we can improve still so I feel like we can still get a higher score."

Lussnig took fourth in the all-around with a 35.65 and freshman Reese Lackey was fifth with a 35.4. Lussnig was fourth on beam with a 9.05 and fifth on bars with a 9.15 while Lackey was third on floor with a 9.25, following a 9.4 from Karlson and a 9.35 from junior Graci Weems, who also was third on beam with a 9.1.

"It's been super fun," Lackey said. "We have a great team and everyone is super positive. Sure it's different, but we have an amazing team so it's fun to compete."

On Saturday, it didn't get much more fun on floor with Karlson, Weems and Lackey finishing in the top three places.

"Floor is super fun because we all come together and show all of our personalities," Lackey said. "I love competing with all of them."

In addition to winning floor, Karlson won beam with a 9.4 and bars with a 9.5. She edged Lake Park junior Julia Bartnik, 37.6 to 37.5, for the all-around title during the 60s/tie dye-themed invite.

"I think it was a pretty good meet and all of us get better at something at every meet," Karlson said. "I think it's all going to click at the end of the season and I'm looking forward to seeing how we do toward postseason. High school is way more fun and way more easy going. Club is way more individual so this is way more enjoyable to compete as a team and then win as a team, too."

It's been quite a week for Karlson and fellow seniors Maura Anderson and Jenna Kierczynski as the Vikings celebrated Senior Night on Wednesday with a win over Glenbard North leading up to Saturday's victory.

'It's been a fun year and I've always said to them to do high school because it's so much fun and the team aspect is different from anything you've been used to," Anderson said. "I'd been at Senior Night every single year (I've been on the team) so it was definitely fun to be on that other side and kind of go out and do our best in our last time in the gym after so many meets. It definitely was cool."

Geneva will certainly continue practicing on its home turf and will host a regional that they hope ultimately leads to a trip to state and the opportunity to compete for a state trophy.

"We've been working super hard the last few weeks and we've got a few new skills in there," Geneva coach Kim Hostman said. "Everything is coming together. We still had a few mistakes on beam and bars, but I am so happy with the girls."

The Vikings weren't the only team at their best on Saturday as Lake Park hit 19-of-20 routines.

"The girls have been working a lot on consistency on events like vault and beam, and we only missed one beam routine," Lancers coach Jake Luketin said. "They had their best beam, best vault and best bars of the year and best team score, so working on the consistency in the gym has paid off."

Bartnik really shined on vault, winning with a 9.55.

"I've been working on my vault for the past couple years and it's really shown this year," she said. "I'm really proud of myself for being able to land it cleanly."

Bartnik also took second on beam with a 9.3 and bars with a 9.45. She was fourth on floor with a 9.2 while junior teammate Cali Keefe took third in the all-around with a 36.3 and was third on bars with a 9.35. Freshman Cristina Benza added a fourth-place finish on vault with a 9.2 for the Lancers.

"The team was working hard this week and it paid off," Bartnik said. "I love to see our progress show and we had really good energy throughout the team and I think it helped us along with all the hard work."

Batavia finished in fifth place with 132.75 while Valley co-op was sixth with a 131.3.

Talia Gallas was ninth in the all-around for the Bulldogs with a 34.5 and fellow senior Grace Cooper was 11th with a 33.3. Gallas also tied Valley co-op sophomore Lucia Caruso for seventh place on floor with a 9.05.

Freshman Wynne Tien was ninth on bars for the Bulldogs with an 8.75.