Worth the wait

"My parallel bars and high bar were a little rough, but on floor (exercise) I hit a real good set and that gave me a spark for the rest of the meet," Wilfong said.

Wilfong's efforts and numerous outstanding performances by his teammates powered Glenbard West to its first sectional championship since 2001. The Hilltoppers captured three of the top five spots in each of the bar events, including a first-place showing by senior Thuyen Nguyen on the parallel bars with a score of 8.850. Fellow senior Matt Pappadopoli was second in both of the bar events.

"Team depth is our strength," said Glenbard West coach Steve Kafka. "Our guys really tried hard. We've been building towards this."

Following Glenbard West in the team standings and hoping to advance to state as "at-large qualifying teams" were Lake Park with 141.450 points, Conant with 135.600 points and Schaumburg with 134.450. In the individual events the top five advance as "ranked qualifiers" and the top 25 individuals with the highest scores statewide among those who are not "ranked qualifiers" will advance as "at-large qualifiers."

In the all-around competition the top three all-around individuals advance as "ranked qualifiers." Besides them, the top 15 individuals with the highest scores among those not "ranked qualifiers" will advance as "at-large qualifiers."

For the Lancers, coach Keith Matune was pleased with how his youthful team placed. They only have one senior and made up of mostly juniors and sophomores. Matune singled out the efforts of junior Andrew Aguayo on the pommel horse and parallel bars. Lake Park sophomore Gary Soper and junior Mike Hannigan placed in the top seven in still rings.

"The future is bright for Lake Park gymnastics," Matune said.

While Glenbard North did not qualify as a team, it will send standout sophomore Tyler DeAnda to the state meet. DeAnda was third in the all-around competition with 50.500 points and tied for second on the horizontal bar.

In keeping with the underclassmen theme, Wheaton Academy freshman Alex Varga punched his ticket to state in two events by placing second in the vault and tying for fourth on the parallel bars.

Wheaton Warrenville co-op will send Tim Krueger in the floor exercise after the senior posted a 9.450 score, good for second place. Glenbard East will also advance senior Anthony Mahaz, who placed fifth on the still rings. According the Illinois High School Association Web site, at-large qualifiers will be announced Monday morning.

Schaumburg is happy to have Michael Lester peaking at the right time. Saturday marked Lester's third competition of the season. The IHSA ruled him ineligible for a certain period of time due to a school transfer issue. Lester won the all-around competition (52.950), was first on the horizontal bar (8.650) and tied for top honors on the pommel horse (8.900).

"He has brought a lot of energy to the team," said Saxons coach Howard Rubin. "He is able to reach down and get more out of people."

Rubin also was pleased with sophomore Stephen Longs performance on the floor, a 9.150 which was good for fourth place.

Conant's score suffered a bit because its top all-arounder, Jon Snyder, had to be scratched from the competition after breaking his hand on Friday night at home. Coach Paul Kim gave kudos to senior Eric Marima who won the still rings with a 9.60.

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