Girls Gymnastics: Lyons’ Kelsy Kurfirst win WSC all-around; Glenbard West claims team title

Updated: January 28, 2012 10:55PM

Kelsy Kurfirst saved one of her best performances for last at the West Suburban Silver meet Saturday.

The Lyons Township freshman already had the meet’s highest score, a 9.65, to win the vault in her first event. As the last gymnast to finish the meet, Kurfirst scored a 9.55 to win the floor exercise, the meet’s second highest score. Kurfirst won three of four events to win the all-around title (37.535) at Downers Grove North. Kurfirst held a slight lead through three events, but her floor routine was more than enough to give Kurfirst the all-around win over Hinsdale Central’s Erin Morgan (37.275) and Glenbard West’s MacKenzie O’Keefe (36.95).

O’Keefe won the balance beam with a 9.325. Kurfirst’s other win was on the uneven bars (9.45).

“Floor exercise was my favorite event today,” Kurfirst said. “It was my last event. I was tired. It was cold after waiting around a while. All I did was went all out and hit my routines.”

Kurfirst nearly gave the all-around title away with a fall on her flip-flop layout on the beam. She scored a 8.875 to finish seventh.

“I was really nervous (today), but I’m getting to the point of the season where you see tough competition at meets,” Kurfirst said. “This is definitely a boost, especially when you’ve got great competition. We did a great job today. There are some great gymnasts here.”

Glenbard West (144.85) won all of its conference dual meets and clinched its first outright conference title in school history. The Hilltoppers shared previous Silver titles in 2005 and 2008.

“We always make our scores based on our consistency,” Hilltoppers coach Carlos Fuentes said. “We don’t go for the bigger risk. We choose routines on the risk and the reward.”

After McKenzie’s third place finish on all-around, Glenbard West’s Missy Guzman (36.025) and Nicole Pagor (35.625) finished fourth and fifth on the all-around.

Morgan, who beat Kurfirst head-to-head in the dual meet Jan. 19, finished second on the vault (9.475), beam (9.15) and floor (9.475) and took third on bars (9.175).

She fell short on her first vault run, but stuck her second attempt off her handspring front.

“I didn’t get it straight (at first),” Morgan said. “The second time I knew how high to get and I got the score I wanted to get.”

Morgan emerged as Hinsdale Central’s top all-arounder after a season-ending injury to Kristen Grilli.

“Going into (regionals on Wednesday), I have confidence,” Morgan said. “I feel really well right now. This season is my best season out of all my three years in high school gymnastics. I’m doing my best.”

WEST SUBURBAN SILVER

Teams: Glenbard West 144.850, Lyons Township 142.975, Hinsdale Central 139.075, York 129.150, Oak Park-River Forest 128.675, Downers Grove North 122.50

All-around: Kelsy Kurfirst, Lyons, 37.525; Vault: Kurfirst, 9.65; Uneven bars: Kurfirst, 9.45; Balance Beam: MacKenzie O’Keefe, Glenbard West, 9.325; Floor exercise: Kurfirst, 9.55.

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