Thurs., Dec. 1, girls gymnastics started off their season with a win against Glenbrook North, beating them 139.40 to 130.80. The Trevians scored higher than the Spartans in every event, including vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor.

The team was very satisfied with their performance. “We won by almost nine whole points. That’s a pretty significant amount, especially in a sport where a tenth can be a determining factor in winning or losing,” senior Hannah Richard said.

Sophomore Emma Rohrer agreed. “We exceeded expectations and did very well for our first meet,” she said. “It was a huge improvement because we scored ten points higher than our first meet last year.”

Although they were excited about the victory, it came as no surprise for the gymnasts.

“GBN has some really good girls as well, but I think our team has more consistently great gymnasts on every event,” Richard said.

“We knew that GBN was good, but we were confident in our skills and routines,” freshman Avery Faulkner said.

The competition came just a few days before a more intense meet against Glenbrook South that Saturday, acting as a sort of practice run to boost team spirit.

“We had to get our ‘first meet jitters’ out before our big competition against GBS,” Faulkner said.

Even though the meet against Glenbrook North was their first, it was still a relatively low-pressure environment.

“It was a non-conference crossover meet,” said head coach Jennifer Pistorius. “Our girls know several of the girls from GBN, so it’s always nice to see them at a meet.”

As the team tried to start the season in the best condition position, avoiding injury was a main priority in Thursday’s meet. “Our goal was to do our best, see what we need to focus on for the future, and stay healthy,” Pistorius said.

Rohrer even notice how the team had improved in this area from one year to the next. “No one got seriously injured compared to last year, which was definitely a highlight,” she said.

Although gymnastics injuries can be serious and even season ending, the athletes continue Pistorius was excited to see one gymnast come back from her injury at this meet. “Zoey Spangler was injured all season last year, and it was great to see her healthy and competing again,” she said.

Spangler, a sophomore, competed in the floor exercise, scoring a respectable 8.50.

Pistorius also recognized the efforts of a couple more gymnasts. “Maeve Murdock stood up her double back on floor, and Avery Faulkner had a 9.5 on floor,” she pointed out.

Despite the team’s dominant performance in the meet, many gymnasts still found a few areas in which they could improve.

“We can certainly do better,” Richard said. “Some of the girls fell or didn’t do a skill as well as they could have, so many of them will be honing in on those skills to really make them solid for competition.”

Senior Elise Ashford had a similar vision for the team. “We will be improving on current skills and learning new ones to raise the difficulty level of our routines in practice to better prepare ourselves for the next meet,” she said.

Their practice has so far been paying off, as they won Saturday’s meet against Glenbrook South 143.20 to 142.70. “That was a huge meet and win for our team,” Pistorius said.

They will be competing against GBN again on Friday, Dec. 9.