Waubonsie/Metea Girls Claim Regional Gym Crown

First,  it was a venue change. Second, came a postponement due to last week's blizzard. Then, on Saturday, captain Laura Burns broke her ankle.

All of this could've rattled freshman Jordyn Penny and her Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley co-op gymnastics teammates, but it didn't faze the team one bit as Waubonsie/Metea won its own regional on Monday with a 141.825 point total.

It was the first regional title in team history for Waubonsie/Metea, which originally was supposed to travel to Oswego for the regional before having the site changed to Neuqua Valley where it was postponed last Thursday.

"The girls were really excited," Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley coach Nicole Daly said. "They were a little bummed after the conference (meet) and that got a fire lit and really motivated them to win it."

Oswego co-op finished second with a 137.050 and secured the second and final at-large qualifier to Wednesday's Hinsdale Central Sectional. Neuqua Valley's hopes to advance as an at-large team were scrapped. Sandburg/Stagg co-op picked up the other at-large qualifier during Saturday's Lincoln-Way East regional.

Penny certainly didn't compete like a nervous freshman, having her best meet of the season on the biggest stage of her young career. She finished second on floor (9.275), bars (9.15) and beam (8.975) and won vault (9.525) en route to capturing the all-around title with a 36.925.

"She has got a lot of talent and potential and is really driven," Daly said. "There are times when we tell her to take it easy because she's overdoing it, but she keeps going and has the motivation and determination to succeed."

Penny was able to relax throughout the night by simply attempting to duplicate the success she's had in the same gym during practices.

"I was just trying to do everything like I do it in practice," she said. "Vault was really good. I hadn't landed it consistently in meets, or even in practice, so to do it was really good."

Maddie Strick was fifth in the all-around with a 35.0 total and Elizabeth Brandenburg was sixth with a 34.925. Strick won bars with a 9.275 and Brandenburg took top honors on floor with a 9.3.

"We did really good. This is just really exciting," Strick said. "I felt good after bars and vault and then floor was good, but beam was not so good."

Other notable contributions for Waubonsie/Metea included Jessica Malon tying for second on floor (9.275), freshman Alexa Puccio taking fifth on vault (8.725) and Maria Pizzo tying Brandenburg for sixth on beam (8.35).

"We've got a lot of depth in pretty much every event and they can even each other out," Daly said. "So,  it's really nice to have that diversity where they can all fill in."

Kathryn Maher closed out the meet on beam for Oswego, placing third with an 8.925. Maher and Kyla Price tied for third in the all-around with a 35.075.

"I just had to work real hard," Maher said. "I'm really proud of the whole team. We all stepped up."

Oswego coach Sarah Dugan admitted to calculating numbers at times during the meet to see where the team stood for the final at-large qualifier.

"Sometimes I wish I didn't because it gets you worked up," she said. "We knew coming in we had to beat Neuqua Valley to get in and the girls didn't know the scores, and we just kind of let them do their thing and we came out ahead."

Like Waubonsie/Metea, a good start worked wonders for Oswego.

"I think that bars starting off so great with our three all-arounders hitting their routines was big," Dugan said. "That carried them to strong vaults and Kyla had a huge vault, maybe had a little too much adrenalin, but still a good vault."

Amanda Padlo contributed a fifth-place 8.675 on bars for Oswego.

Plainfield North's Kori Boe won beam with a 9.1 and was second in the all-around with a 35.25. The junior, who was plagued with a back injury earlier this season, advances to the Hinsdale Central Sectional.

"Since I came back from the back injury, I've been stronger than ever and just been on a roll," she said." This was, I think, my highest all-around of the season, and now I'm just trying to go out there with everything cleaned up."

Plainfield North freshman Laura Ferguson posted an all-around of 30.8. Her top finish was tying for 12th place on floor with an 8.3.

"My scores have improved throughout the season," she said. "Today everything went well."

Yorkville sophomore Courtney Dial not only enjoyed her first regional appearance, but also her first all-around competition since last December. She took eighth on beam with an 8.3 and advanced as an at-large qualifier.

"I've had a sharp pain in my back, so it was just good to be able to do floor again," she said. "It went better than I thought, and it's been a good experience this year. Now, I know what to expect for next year."

Homewood-Flossmoor took third place with a 129.8, followed by Hinsdale South's 120.825. The Hornets' Jessica Hawken took fifth on beam with an 8.55 to advance to sectional competition.

"It was a good way to end and to get anyone to sectional is great," Hinsdale South coach Jennifer Fichter said. "I'm so proud of them and for Jessica to make it to sectional is awesome."

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