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New athletes will need to step in and contribute considerably in order for Batavia and St. Charles co-op to enjoy big seasons.
The squads assembled for their DuKane Conference opener at the St. Charles Gymnastics Academy in St. Charles on Wednesday night in a meet that was also the season opener for both teams.
Utilizing scores from seven gymnasts, the Bulldogs dug deep to slide past St. Charles co-op, 126.2 to 124.35.
“For everybody it was good to get that first one and now we’re ready to go back to practice and fix the things we saw today that need to be fixed,” Batavia coach Taryn Boyce said. “I think these girls would rather stay in the gym and work more than compete here, but now they can move on with the rest of the season.”
Freshmen Sydney Balitewicz, who took second place on floor with a 9.15 and had a 28.55 in the all-around, is one of Batavia’s key newcomers. Natalie Hayden added a 9.05 on floor while fellow freshman Jackie Nelson took third place on floor with an 8.2.
Junior Taylor Novotny led the Bulldogs with a 30.8 in the all-around.
“It was pretty good for the first meet, but I always want to do better, but I’ll take it,” she said. “Coming back from club in the offseason it’s hard to get back to high school, but it should come along.”
Batavia junior Olivia Bartolotta won floor with an 8.8.
“I’m still hoping to get more skills,” she said. “So hopefully I can do that, and add more on beam so I can score higher than where I was at.”
Back injuries have plagued a few of St. Charles co-op’s top gymnasts, but three of them still delivered big scores.
First-year senior Alyssa Buono, who is limited to competing on only vault and bars due to a back injury, won vault with a 9.25. Buono was honored before the meet as part of Senior Night festivities. She was the only senior to compete in the meet for either varsity team.
“It was really fun and I’m excited to get to know the team better,” she said. “My vault was very good and my teammates were very supportive. But I didn’t do my best on bars. I warmed up all my skills, but didn’t have it today on bars. But overall it went well.”
Junior Sydney Kamin, who along with sophomore Jenny Nickel competed in last year’s regional, won the all-around with a 34.85. Kamin dazzled on bars with a first place 9.4. She’s currently getting physical therapy for her back issues.
“I haven’t had a lot of improvement with my back, so today I was at about 70 percent of the skills I have,” she said. “I was disappointed to come out knowing I couldn’t do everything I was capable of. I couldn’t show off to everyone what I can do, but I was just glad to get through the day without any falls or anything.”
Freshman Katie Kempff added a 30.0 in the all-around. She’s also been battling a back injury
“I was so nervous that the coaches were saying I was white as a ghost,’ Kempffsaid. “I was able to get over that and not freak out too much.”
Nickel added an 8.3 on vault while Ashley Olea and Gabby Potempa also added to the St. Charles co-op team score as specialists.
“Pretty happy with how we did,” first-year St. Charles co-op coach Natalie Przybylski said. “We want to see the scores get higher, but we were very close to Batavia. So as my first official meet as a high school coach, I couldn’t have asked fora smoother meet.”
Przybylski isn’t far removed from competing herself. She graduated from Elk Grove Village in 2011.
“We’re in a good place,” she said. “The kids are young so it’s a rebuilding year, but I can’t wait to see where these kids go. Right now this is nothing.”