Hilltoppers take 7th in State Gymnastics

Seniors Megan Brennan, Shannon Dietz and Becky Mladucky wrapped up their stellar careers at Glenbard West over the weekend as the Hilltoppers competed in the IHSA State Finals for the second consecutive year.

Glenbard West finished in seventh place with a 144.650. The Hilltoppers respected the talented teams they competed against, but stressed focusing only on their team and hitting routines.

"It was a very difficult meet with very good competition here," Mladucky said. "We went in not knowing what was going to happen, but we worked our hardest, and I mean, we only had two misses."

Carmel celebrated its second straight title late on Saturday evening. The Corsairs finished with a 149.45. Lake Forest (148.450) was the runner-up, followed by Schaumburg (147.8), Stevenson (146.95), Hinsdale Central (146.75) and Fremd (145.65) all before the Hilltoppers. Prairie Ridge co-op claimed eighth place with a 143.5.

"With the other teams here we knew it would be difficult, so we just wanted to hit as many routines as we could because we work so hard," Brennan said. "Only missing twice out of 20 isn't too bad. Scores were tighter than usual, but you're at state, and there's not much more you can do."

Mladucky was the lone Glenbard West gymnast to advance out of Friday's preliminaries to Saturday's event championships.

Mladucky had a 9.425 on uneven parallel bars on Friday but struggled in Saturday's finals, taking ninth place with an 8.975.

"I think my nerves got to me. I wanted to do well and tried my hardest but it didn't happen like I wanted it to," Mladucky said. "If I were to cry it wouldn't do any good. Making it to finals was a privilege, especially with my injuries this year. I'm very happy with the way my season turned out and I loved every second of it."

Although seventh place isn't where the Hilltoppers are accustomed to finishing, they had no problem with how they ended their season as one of the state's elite teams.

"They definitely accomplished a lot more than I could've ever hoped for," Glenbard West coach Carlos Fuentes said. "Four regional championships in a row, two sectional championships. It's been a nice culmination of all their hard work and for a program that historically had never been to the state meet five years ago, to do it back-to-back is a great achievement for the girls."

High scores for the team on Friday, included Mladucky's 9.45 on bars, Megan Brennan's 9.375 on vault, Missy Guzman's 9.25 on floor and a 9.1 on beam from Mladucky. Guzman (36.35) and Mladucky (35.425) both competed in the all-around.

"We hit a lot of routines, more so than I thought," Fuentes said. "We didn't have to count a single fall anywhere, and scoring is always tight at the state meet. It was nice for the seniors to come out and finish their senior year in the state meet."

"We tried our best and did really good," sophomore Abbie Garchitorena said. "There's always some little thing we could've done better, but overall we did very good."

The fact that it was the final meet in the careers of Glenbard West's three seniors might have entered their minds but probably didn't play a factor in how they performed.

"I think for most of us we just went out there to have fun in our last meet," Brennan said. "I'm not doing it in college so I kind of looked at it as the last meet of our life and just wanted to give it our best shot."

While the seniors will certainly have time now to reflect on their excellence this season, as well as during this two-year span, Fuentes will soon turn his focus to next winter. While it won't be easy to replace Brennan, Dietz and Mladucky's scores, as well as Brennan's gorgeous vaults and Mladucky's jaw-dropping bars routines, he'll have Guzman, Nicole Pagor and Shauna Gialluisi back for their senior year, along with Garchitorena, up-and-coming freshman Maggie Phillips and talents from the lower levels.

"We're definitely going to work hard in the offseason," Gialluisi said." Having now made it two years in a row we want to continue to do well."


Glenbard West full team results from Friday's preliminaries in the IHSA State Girls Gymnastics Finals

Brennan, Megan: 8.575 beam, 9.2 floor, 9.375 vault

Dietz, Shannon: 9.075 bars

Garchitorena, Abbie: 8.675 beam, 8.675 floor, 9.1 vault

Gialluisi, Shauna: 8.65 bars

Guzman, Missy: 9.05 bars, 8.875 beam, 9.25 floor, 9.175 vault, 36.35 all-around

Mladucky, Becky: 9.425 bars (advanced to Saturday's finals), 9.1 beam, 8.375 floor, 8.525 vault, 35.425 all-around

Pagor, Nicole: 8.575 beam, 9.2 floor, 9.125 vault

Phillips, Maggie: 8.725 bars

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