The boys varsity gymnastics team began their competitive season on Wednesday, Feb. 28 against Deerfield and Highland Park.

After school, the team works through their warm ups prepping for their first meet. This perseverance paid off and brought home their first win, beating both of the schools.  

Even though the team secured the victory against these teams, they still have many goals to accomplish. The boy’s varsity gymnastics coach, Adrian Batista, saw a lot of talent during the meet, but would like to improve on some events. 

“The meet went wonderfully; we won and we weren’t sure if we would, but the team exceeded our expectations at the varsity level. Floor exercise was our best event, the team looked very good and very strong and scored really well. Two events we need to improve on are the high bars and on the parallel bars- we need to work on our dismounts. Our goal is to make it to state this year, the top ten teams go to state so we are working on being in the top ten. We also want to make a run at conference and hopefully beat a few teams,” Batista said.  

The team did very well with six gymnasts from West scoring first in different events. Senior Patrick Nauman reflects on what the team needs to improve on and how the team worked well together to help them finish first. 

“As a team, I thought we did really well for our first meet of the season seeing where we are at for scoring. The team’s morale was very strong throughout the competition supporting each other through all the events. A team goal would be for the whole team to make State and to just have fun. I personally believe that the team needs to work on cleaning up our routines and trying new skills with an open mind to improve our scores,” Nauman said. 

Although Nauman performed well on his events for the first meet, he also reflects on how he can improve and what he wants to accomplish for his senior year on the varsity team. 

“I performed on floor and vault and placed first on vault and tied for third on floor. My personal goals for the season is to make state day one and day two and to not get injured throughout the season,” Nauman said. 

Observing the varsity team, sophomore Milan Dotlich notices the team’s hard work and dedication. Being on the JV team, he was able to watch the varsity gymnasts perform and give his input on how the team did. 

“We scored around 124 points for the varsity level and all the levels are happy to be back. I think the teams can improve on helping each other and not just cheering during meets, but also during practice. I think we all did amazing for our first time and we are excited for the rest of the season,” Dotlich said. 

Being on the JV level, Dotlich has a lot of personal goals for the upcoming season and hopes to improve enough to earn a spot on the varsity team. 

“I performed all around and competed in all my events on floor and got a career-high of 7.5. I made a few mistakes on other events, but it’s nothing I won’t fix by next meet. My goal is to be moved up to varsity, but still be able to compete all around. I think it is possible with the way I’m scoring right now,” Dotlich said. 

The team plans to work hard throughout the rest of the season with lots of goals and plenty to improve on. We wish the gymnastic teams a good rest of their season.