Trojans' Southworth Strong at Division Meet

Whenever Downers Grove North senior gymnast Bronte’ Southworth needs extra motivation for her routines, a voice comes in loud and clear.

“I talk to myself, if that’s not weird, and try to keep myself positive, open-minded, just knowing that I’m going to go out there and try my hardest,” Southworth said. “I think maybe (my teammates are) accustomed to it so they don’t say anything. I don’t even know if they can tell. I say more stuff in my head when I’m actually on the event.”

As she approaches her final postseason, about the only talk remaining for Southworth is that of reaching her first state meet.

Southworth showed again Saturday she’s a contender with a seventh-place 8.775 on balance beam at the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet at York. The Trojans finished sixth (125.175 points) and sixth in the final overall standings.

The final overall standings are a 50-50 combination of dual results and Silver Meet results. Had the Trojans finished ahead of Oak Park-River Forest (125.25) Saturday, which scored just 0.075 higher, they and the Huskies would have tied for fifth.

“I thought (our gymnasts) did OK. It’s kind of where we’ve been all year,” North coach Linda Reynolds said. “It would have been nice to see that score go up if we didn’t have so many falls. We would have got a season high had we stayed on things.”

Southworth had the lone top-10 finish for a young DGN lineup in a conference that boosts three teams in contention for advancing to the state meet -- Glenbard West (144.625), Hinsdale Central (144.45) and Lyons Township (142.875).

North will visit LT for regionals at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in La Grange with hopes of advancing individuals to the Hinsdale Central Sectional at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 9. Southworth has qualified for sectionals her past three years, last year on beam and floor exercise, but she wants to reach state for the first time.

“That’s the goal for this year. As long as I perform it like how I know I can, I think it’ll be there,” Southworth said. “I’m just hoping for regionals and sectionals that I can do an outstanding job and qualify for state. I think (the routine is) doing pretty good, though. I’m headed on the right track.”

Southworth also had the team’s high score on her other event, floor exercise (13th, 8.375). Alyssa Jacobs, the other senior in the lineup, had the top scores on vault (18th, 8.825), landing her Tsukahara vault, and uneven parallel bars (tied for 20th, 7.85) and sophomore Michelle Moore had the top all-around total (15th, 30.275). Also competing as all-arounders were freshman Teigan Jung (30.00) and sophomore Melanie Phelps (28.675).

“We had some rough sports. We’re such a young team,” Reynolds said. “I really felt they were ready but still it’s kind of hard. They get either too psyched up or too cautious. They’re still trying to figure out when they get in a big meet what level you’re supposed to be at. They’re either running at 200 percent so they’re all over the place or they’re so scared they’re holding back. They just need more experience and then they’ll be good.”
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Southworth hopefully will have someone to talk to at sectionals. Jacobs also advanced to sectionals last year.

“I’d like to see Bronte’ and Alyssa go (to sectionals). That would be really nice,” Reynolds said. “Now we just get geared up for Wednesday, see if we could get a couple of people through on a few things.”

WSC Silver Meet
Team results: 1. Glenbard West 144.625, 2. Hinsdale Central 144.45, 3. Lyons Township 142.875, 4. York 130.95, 5. Oak Park-River Forest 125.25, 6. Downers Grove North 125.175
Dual standings: 1. Hinsdale Central (5-0), 2. Lyons Township (4-1), 3. Glenbard West (3-2), 4. York (2-3), 5. Oak Park River Forest (1-4), 6. Downers Grove North (0-5)
Final overall standings (50/50 combination of dual results and Silver Meet results): 1. Hinsdale Central, 2. Glenbard West, 3. Lyons Township, 4. York, 5. Oak Park-River Forest, 6. Downers Grove North

Downers Grove North individual results
All-around: 15. Michelle Moore 30.275, 16. Teigan Jung 30.00, 17. Melanie Phelps 28.675
Vault: 18. Alyssa Jacobs 8.825, 24. Phelps 8.325, 27. Jung 8.2, 28. Moore 8.125
Uneven parallel bars: 20T. Jacobs 7.85, 24. Moore 7.6, 28. Jung 7.325, 29. Phelps 6.95
Balance beam: 7. Bronte’ Southworth 8.775, 22. Jacobs 7.7, 25. Moore 7.125, 27. Phelps 6.975, 29. Jung 6.6
Floor exercise: 13. Southworth 8.375, 19. Jung 7.875, 21T. Jacobs 7.725, 26. Moore 7.425, 29. Phelps 6.425