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What a difference a year makes.
Last year at this time, Downers Grove co-op was actually two separate teams – Downers Grove South and Downers Grove North – Kathryn Snouffer wasn’t on either since she was in eighth grade and junior Melina Pipilas was sitting out with her broken left arm in a sling.
On Saturday, they finished 1-2 in the all-around while junior teammate Mia Bowers was third, as Downers Grove co-op cruised past the rest of the West Suburban Gold conference field, scoring 141.5 points. Runner-up Willowbrook scored 130.925 points.
“Melina’s coming back has been phenomenal,” Downers Grove co-op coach Kristyn Campos said. “She’s been slowly kind of picking up her pace and training and is now back as an all-arounder.”
Downers Grove co-op has been far and away the best team in conference this year. So there wasn’t as much pressure on the team to win, as there was in trying to fine tune for regionals beginning next week.
“There has been a competition lull after winter break so this was our only meet since our winter break and we kind of having to shake off some of that nervousness,” Campos said. “So we’ve kind of been training competition order for today and regionals. It’s been a lot of cleaning up of routines and drills this week to get ready for Wednesday’s regional.”
How dominant was Downers Grove co-op?
It had the top three finishers on vault and beam, but was even more impressive on floor with Snouffer (9.3), Pipilas (9.15), Bowers (9.025) and Emily Smetana (8.8) snagging the top four scores. Even Cherylin Parrilli, who was seventh with an 8.675, was impressive and the team didn’t even need to use her score.
Snouffer won the all-around with a 35.825, slipping ahead of Pipilas’ 35.750 and a 35.025 from Bowers.
“I knew we were a strong team, but still, this team amazes me,” Snouffer said. “I wouldn’t say I expected anything, but it’s still a nice surprise. The team aspect here is something I really like. It’s more of a family.”
Somewhat lost in Downers Grove co-op’s dominance is the upsurge of the Willowbrook program, which has now surpassed 130 points in three consecutive meets. Prior to this season, the Warriors hadn’t reached 130 points in a meet in 12 years.
“The girls are working super hard and really getting the team concept of being able to push each other,” Willowbrook coach Deanna Zuchowski said. “We’re just going from there.”
Like Snouffer and Pipilas, Willowbrook sophomore Bella Naumovsky wasn’t in the picture at this time last year. On Saturday, her bars performance was one of the biggest highlights, winning with a 9.25.
“I was pretty nervous, I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it through it because last meet it wasn’t that good,” Naumovsky said. “At meets I haven’t been that good, but at practice I’ve been hitting them spot on. I even have videos of me doing them really good but then I go to meet and mess up a couple of times.”
Injuries led Naumovsky to transition from club to high school gymnastics – and she’s been a huge addition to the Warriors lineup since January. She also finished fourth on beam with an 8.65 and fifth on floor with an 8.75.
“I couldn’t be more impressed,” Zuchowski said. “She came in right away and kind of was like ‘This is what I have, this is what I can give you’ and we kind of pushed it from there. She’s really impressive and she’s meshed well with the team. She pushes the team to do better and because of that, the team is doing better, she’s doing better and everyone is loving life.”
Willowbrook sophomore Tess Placek led the Warriors in the all-around, taking seventh with a 33.05. She also placed fourth on vault with a9.1.
Hinsdale South finished in fifth place with a 113.15 with Ella Linkowski taking fourth in the all-around with a 34. Morton was sixth with a 95.35.
On Wednesday, Downers Grove co-op competes in the Lyons regional while Willowbrook is at Lake Park. Hinsdale South hosts a regional on Thursday while Morton heads to Lincoln-Way East on Tuesday.