Girls Gymnastics: Geneva’s Ashley Puff leads Vikings to victory
BY CHRIS WALKER For Sun-Times Media December 5, 2012 9:46PM
Waubonsie/Metea co-op's Jessica Malon competes on the uneven bars at Neuqua Valley. | Mike Mantucca ~ For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: December 5, 2012 11:05PM
Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley co-op came up short on Wednesday in a triangular girls gymnastics Upstate Eight Conference meet between Geneva and Batavia at Neuqua Valley in Naperville.
The Vikings proved far superior to both teams, winning handily with 140.1 points while the hosts were a distant second with a 129.15 and the Bulldogs followed with a 128.45.
“If we didn’t have injuries this year we could do a lot better, but we’re going to do the best we can,” Waubonsie/Metea junior Alexa Puccio said. “I was happy with my meet because I didn’t fall. It was only my second meet, but in my first one I didn’t do all-around and I fell on vault.”
Puccio led her team with a 32.95 in the all-around.
Waubonsie/Metea’s top gymnast, Jess Malon, got a little banged up during warm-ups and was limited to a multi-event specialist role. She still led the team with a 9.25 on bars and beam with a 7.9. She added an 8.35 on vault but didn’t compete on floor.
Freshman Alaina Kapla stepped up for the hosts, leading her team with an 8.5 on floor and 7.9 on beam.
“I was really happy with how I did tonight,” Kapla said. “It’s different coming into high school but I’ve been really happy with how things have gone so far.‘
Marianna Georgiou added an 8.35 on floor and 8.25 on floor and finished with a 30.3 in the all-around for Waubonsie/Metea. She was limping after a mishap on floor and had an ankle wrapped in ice afterward.
“Yeah, I rolled something during my floor but I wasn’t going to let it stop me,” she said. “We’re here at home and you just want to keep going.”
St. Edward’s senior Abby Madden won vault (9.75), bars (9.5), beam (9.25) and took third on floor (9.35) as the lone representative of her school. She finished with a top all-around score of 37.8.
Geneva’s Ashley Puff won floor with a 9.45 while teammate Dominique Brognia was nearly as impressive with a 9.35.
Freshmen led the way for the young Bulldogs, who begin the season without an injured Sarah Ganster. Meghan McGee (33.35) and Lauren Stangl (33.65) led Batavia in the all-around.
