Vault, rings, floor, pommel horse, high bar and parallel bars were the six events the Niles West boys gymnastics team competed in on March 19 for their senior night. They competed against the Glenbrook South Titans and Niles North Vikings. The boys were able to place 2nd place, beating the Vikings but failed to win against the Titans.
During the meet, many gymnasts were able to shine through for each event. Sophomore Joaquin Sriver and junior Johnathan Guan pushed hard on their floor routines. Junior Ross Martchev was able to complete a double-twisting layout backflip on his floor routine and junior Charlie Alvarado added a new type of backflip in his routine. As for the pommel horse, junior Ronald Rivera did not only well on the pommel horse but was able to exceed on the rings as junior Max Hort was right alongside him. On vault, senior Patrick Nauman completed a difficult trick called a Tsukahara. Finally, junior Austin Braden held the highest score on the team for the high bar.
“We all did well that day, consistently sticking our landings and doing our routines. The season has been going great–I feel like I am pushing myself to do harder and better routines, and I can’t wait for the rest of the season. As for the team, our strongest events are on the parallel bars and floor, but we need improvement on pommel horse and high bar because they’re our lowest-scoring and most inconsistent events,” Hort said.
As it being some of the players last year, many are striving to do well in all their events but also improving their skills.
“I am so excited to be a senior this year. I’ve put three years into this program and have tried my hardest throughout. I am looking forward to gaining new skills before the season ends and hopefully making it to state in both vault and floor which are my two strongest events,” senior Nauman said.
As their season continues the boys know that with each practice they are improving, and hope to finish this season strong. Niles West has a long and proud tradition of boys’ gymnastics. They have won a state championship, multiple top 3 team state finishes, individual state champions, international competitors and of course a gold medalist in the Olympics.
“The season has been going great. We have the largest team since 2018 and the athletes are motivated to be the best team that we can be. They are having a lot of fun and are getting better every day. The team is like a big family and we are all working together towards the goal of being the best gymnasts we can be. I am so proud to be a coach of these athletes. They amaze me every day with their hard work, determination and teamwork. I am very excited to see where this ends up, as we are trying to become a state qualifying team,” head coach Adrian Batista said.
