Hutton standing tall after falling twice

May 3, 2008

Dan Hutton saved his biggest smile of the Downers Grove North boys gymnastics sectional Friday for his very last event.

After falling on the floor exercise and parallel bars, the Lincoln-Way East senior stuck the dismount of his horizontal bar routine without a waver—and with a grin. His score of 9.65—the highest event score of the day and best horizontal bar mark by more than half a point—ensured Hutton the all-around title.

Hutton scored a 55.45 in the all-around to lead Lincoln-Way East to the team title with a total of 162. Downers Grove North came in second with a 152.1.

"I did really good on some events and really bad on some events," said Hutton, who found the carpet on his floor routine more slippery than expected. "[On the horizontal bar], I was happy I stuck the dismount for once. My dismount has been a little rough the past few meets, but I've improved on it."

The Griffins swept the individual titles.

Hutton, who finished third in state in the all-around last year, also took the pommel horse (9.35) and vault (9.55) championships. Freshman teammate Isaac Kruspe won the floor exercise (9.5) and rings (9.4), and sophomore Ryan Mars was first in parallel bars (8.75).

Downers Grove North was led by junior Doug Rybar, who placed second in the all-around in 53.75. Agricultural Science's Justin Maxwell earned the final automatic all-around qualification with a 53.15. Maxwell, who also overcame falls on the pommel horse and parallel bars, placed 18th at state as a freshman in 2006.

"I had a few blunders, but overall it came out pretty well," Maxwell said. "Hopefully, I can take top 10 [at state] and make it to the finals in every event."

Colleen Kane

Girls soccer

To Nicole Denenberg, there's no mystery why St. Ignatius' girls soccer team is having such an outstanding season.

"We just have really good team chemistry," said the junior, who scored on a penalty kick in the Wolfpack's 2-0 victory at Joliet Catholic in the Catholic Cup. "We know where we are on the field and we play with a high intensity."

St. Ignatius' players must know something this season because they've compiled an 18-1-1 record just a week before the Class AA playoffs begin. The Wolfpack is on an 11-game winning streak since a 1-0 loss to St. Charles North on April 3.

Freshman Megan York scored in the first half off an assist from Alex Yorke for a 1-0 lead. The goal was York's 19th—one away from tying the school season record.

Goalkeeper Ashlee Hunt had three saves for her 14th shutout. One of the saves came on a penalty kick by Mariah Grasshoff of the Angels (8-3-1).

Alan Sutton