Girls Gymnastics: Waubonsie/Metea edges out Neuqua
| Corey R. Minkanic~For Sun-Times Media
Updated: January 10, 2012 10:31PM
Tuesday’s triangular meet between Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley Co-op, Neuqua Valley and St. Charles Co-op was just what the two competing Indian Prairie squads needed.
WVMV Co-op won with a 135.2 team score, followed by the Wildcats with a 132.85. St. Charles placed third with 130.5 points.
For WVMV Co-op, the win was much appreciated. The team gets its third win of the season, following a season-opening victory in the Hinsdale South Invitational and a triangular meet with Batavia and Geneva. Coach Nicole Daly described the rest of WVMV Co-op’s season as “kind of rocky.”
Added Daly: “This is good for them tonight and good for their morale and spirits to know that we won it, because I know that they were kind of nervous going into it. So, this will definitely give them the little boost that they need and more confidence going into the future.”
Though the meet took place at Neuqua Valley, WVMV Co-op was designated the “home team.” The Warriors/Mustangs performed as though they truly were in their home gym, posting the top individual scores in three of the four events.
WVMV Co-op saw Elizabeth Brandenburg score a 9.4 on floor exercise and a 9.15 on vault, while Maddie Strick earned a 9.0 on the uneven parallel bars. Brandenburg’s all-around score of 34.85 was second-best for the meet, as was her 8.71 average.
“This is the first meet actually since the beginning of the season that we’ve had all of our strong varsity gymnasts competing, because girls have been out due to injuries or vacations or band and choir concerts, so we had a feeling tonight was going to be better for us,” Daly said. “Our vault was stronger than it had been in the past and the girls just had a better spirit today.”
Only Neuqua Valley freshman Emily Jacobs (8.8 on the balance beam) prevented the Warriors/Mustangs from getting the clean sweep across all four events.
Jacobs gave the Wildcats a formidable presence that belied her age, as the underclassman earned 8.9s on both vault and uneven bars to go with an 8.8 on floor exercise. She also had the highest average all-around score (8.85) of the meet and the best all-around score, with a 35.4.
“Emily Jacobs was probably the most consistent this evening and also our senior, Riley Wypiszenski,” Neuqua Valley coach Jo Ann Pschigoda said. “They’ve been for the most part leading the team in the upper scores (this year).”
Wypiszenski garnered the team’s second-highest marks on both the uneven bars (8.3) and balance beam (8.25). Isis Ruff also scored two second-place finishes among the Wildcats, with an 8.65 on vault (second to Jacob’s 8.9) and an 8.3 on floor, where Jacobs paced Neuqua Valley with an 8.8.
“We had a solid meet but we still have some work that we’re trying to get done,” Pschigoda said. “We threw some harder skills and it’s just going to come down to consistency.”
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