Snyder hits nice landing

Conant senior John Snyder had been working on a double-layout dismount off his high bar routine for years. Finally, he landed it.

"I was really excited," he said after the Cougars' home opener. "I landed my dismount for once. I haven't landed that in a long time. It's the first time that I've landed it in a meet."

Performing in front of a larger-than-normal crowd on Parents' Night, Snyder recorded a career-best 9.1 on the high bar and scored a 49 to win all-around honors. His effort helped propel Conant to a 133.6 total and a pair of Mid-Suburban West wins over Fremd and Hoffman Estates.

The Cougars might have let the extra attention get to them as they got off to a slow start and trailed the Hawks by 0.3 points through the first three events.

However, Conant (3-0, 2-0) settled down and performed much better in the final three events, scoring 27.2 on vault and adding a combined 43.6 points on the bars.

"I think (the crowd) was a big factor," Cougars coach Paul Kim said. "The boys calmed down and in the second half we did a lot better."

Fremd is 1-1 in the conference after scoring a 123.6 on Thursday. The inexperienced Vikings showed their youth by scoring 25.8 on the floor and 27.5 on vault, but then added only 48 points combined on high bar, rings and pommel.

"There were a lot of things that we need to work on and improve, but there were some bright spots," first-year Fremd coach Tim Hamman said. "We definitely came through on vault and a lot of guys were trying new vaults."

Vikings' senior Keith English, who scored a meet-high 9.5 on the vault, understands that the sophomore-laden team will experience some growing pains this year but sees plenty of talent in practice.

"We kind of have an up-and-rising team," English said. "We have a lot of guys who have a lot of strengths; we just need to work on them. As long as we keep working hard in the gym, I think we'll be up there with everyone else."

Hoffman led the first three events and finished at 117.2, achieving coach Scott Phillips' goal of surpassing the Hawks final score of 2007.

Senior A.J. Jiminez was roundly cheered by his teammates after posting a 7.7 on the pommel horse and senior James Lee added an 8.3 on floor.

"A.J. had his best score ever," said Phillips. "He's improved a lot. James Lee also had his best score on floor. Some of these guys have made a big jump since last year."