Red Devils Steal Single-Point Win From Lions’ Gymnastics

The Hinsdale Central Red Devils girls gymnastics squad delivered a blow to Lyons Township's hopes of recapturing their West Suburban Conference Silver Division title on Wednesday, scoring a 143.75 to 142.45 decision over the visiting Lions.

In a division race that is likely to come down to those two teams and Glenbard West, Hinsdale Central now holds an upper hand, having defeated the Lions team that took down the Hilltoppers last week.

"We knew coming into this meet it was going to be tough. Between us, LT, and Glenbard West, it's all real tight," said Red Devils coach Kim Estoque.

"Our team is usually weakest on staying on, and we only counted one fall. I think that really made a difference today. It's a matter of staying on our feet and just cleaning up a few things."

The biggest difference came in the uneven bars event, which went 35.55 to 34.75 in favor of the Red Devils, whose consistent mid-range scoring and powerful 9.45 from junior Kristen Grilli proved stronger than an erratic LTHS bars lineup.

Grilli, recently returned from a knee injury, won the vault (9.55), while Hinsdale Central senior Erin Usher, also just back from injury, took first in floor exercise (9.35). As a team, the Red Devils also outscored the Lions in floor (36.00 to 35.55), and Grilli registered a 37.15 all-around.

Other 9.00+ scores for Hinsdale Central were registered on the vault by Leah Tarabour and (9.35) and Cayley Brenk (9.30), and on the floor by Grilli (9.20) and Erin Morgan (9.25). No Red Devil broke 9.00 in beam, though the team only lost the event by a tenth of a point.

On the Lyons Township side, senior Carolyn Cozza, the only remaining member of a four-girl powerhouse that swept LT to a second-place state finish last year, was the Lions' top scorer in every event, posting a 37.50 all-around and winning both uneven bars (9.5) and balance beam (9.3.)

Taylor Southworth also scored well in vault (9.4), beam (9.25) and floor exercise (9.05), and Maren Craig posted strong scores in vault (9.15) and bars (9.00), but also suffered Lyons Township's only fall of the day, on the balance beam. The Lions as a team had victories in beam (35.25 to 35.15) and in vault (35.10 to 35.05,) but could not make up for their deficit in uneven-bars scoring.

LT coach Kari Karubas had an odd turn of phrase to sum up the day for her team, saying she was "not totally disappointed, but not painfully happy.

"I know what this team is currently capable of, [and] I really look forward to hitting the gym over break and gaining some new skills," Karubas said. "The girls are committed, and we're coaching our tails off. We've just got to get it to come together. What we're seeing in performance is not quite what we're seeing in the gym yet."

The Red Devils travel to the New Trier Invitational on Saturday; LTHS is off for the winter break until 2011.