Despite promise, team fails to execute and claims a fifth place finish

By Staff Writer John Conway

Last night, Jan. 31, the Naperville North girls gymnastics team traveled to Glenbard North to compete in the DuPage Valley Conference Tournament. Despite impressive performances and individual successes, the team placed fifth out of the six competing schools, with a team score of 135.650.

As the team prepares for next week’s sectional meet, head coach Chris Stanicek hopes to iron out the team’s costly inconsistencies.

“We had a couple of [uncharacteristic] falls tonight,” Stanicek said. “Now we’ve got to get the performers we count on to deliver.”

One of the biggest contributors of the night was sophomore Anneli Kawaoka, who placed third all-around and first on balance beam. While her team may have underscored yesterday, she remains fully confident and optimistic approaching Wednesday’s regional meet.

“I feel like we did really well,” Kawaoka said. “ As a team, I think we need to focus on keeping it together a little more and pulling it together at the end.”

Other top performers for NNHS included Erika Climo, who took first on floor exercise, and junior Michaela Robert, who took third on uneven parallel bars. The final team scores were close-knit, with NNHS missing third place by 1.1 points. Wheaton Co-op  claimed the DVC Championship with 140.075 points. Following Wheaton was Glenbard North, with a score of 137.250, and Naperville Central, with 136.750.

Maybe the biggest distress to the NNHS Gymnastics’ team has been a foul streak that Junior Captain Robert has recently fallen into. Usually strong, poised, and confident, Robert made some costly mistakes in her routines yesterday, leading to painful deductions felt by the team.

Robert’s uneven parallel bars routine was strong enough to earn her a third place event finish despite her one fall.  However, balance beam proved frustrating for her- she fell a number of times before her routine was complete.

Head Coach Stanicek believed that her routine was not an accurate representation of her skill set.

“Michaela Robert didn’t really have a good meet,” Stanicek said. “She’s a much stronger performer than what she did tonight. We have the skill set, we just need to get on the same page, a little bit.”