Durnil speaks up, and Carmel follows up with season-best effort at Lake Forest

Getting together right before their big meet, the Carmel Catholic girls gymnasts pulled together right outside of the Lake Forest fieldhouse in the hallway.

Senior Antonia Durnil took on some vocal leadership in leading the girls with a pep talk, making an emotional plea for her teammates to block out the fear of performance and let the task at hand bring the best out of each competitor.

"It was a way to get the job done," Durnil explained. "It helped us out for the meet."

The Corsairs chalked up a strong opening event, hitting five straight routines on the balance beam to set the tone for their season-best score at 148.6. They finished behind Prairie Ridge, which posted its season high of 150.4 in the Robin Straus Invitational at Lake Forest High School.

"It was pretty incredible and the girls had a different energy," Durnil said. "It was pretty good meet for all of us. I just think this was a good meet, and we believed in ourselves."

Carmel had posted its previous high score on Wednesday at Libertyville with 145.6. But the Corsairs believe they can keep getting better each time out.

"I was so impressed to see them go 5-for-5 on beam right away," Carmel Catholic coach Nicole Stroup said. "That set the tone for the meet and they looked so good. I still think we have a little bit of improvement on stuff. This team is so much fun and they've got so much energy."

Durnil placed third in the all-around (37.325) for the Corsairs behind Maddie Solka (38.425) and Nikki Baars (37.7) of Prairie Ridge. Durnil also finished fifth on bars (9.525).

Kelly Gustafson landed fifth on the vault (9.475) while Solka had the top vault of 9.8. Sammi Lococo chalked up second on the beam (9.65) behind Solka (9.675), while Carmel's Anna Osowski placed third (9.25) and teammate Alyssa Legerreta was fifth (9.2).

"My team all stepped up before that, and it made it easier to do what I can do and do my best," Lococo said. "It helped that they all supported me."

Lake Park finished third with a 145.45, ahead of St. Charles Co-Op in the 11-team field. The Lancers posted a school record, beating the previous mark by one point.

"The last three to four meets have been the highest meets of the year," said Lake Park coach Jake Luketin. "We're building at the right time, and we hit 17 out of 20 routines in the meet."

Lake Park's Izzy Shaw finished third in the vault (9.55) and fourth on the floor (9.5), while Nina Gallichio was fourth on bars (9.6).

"I had taken a step when I landed it," said Shaw of her Yurchenko layout vault. "I just need to stick the vault. I think had some good rotation on it, though."

Petrina Chino of Wheaton Warrenville Co-op placed second on the bars (9.65).

Conant's Melynda Meyrick finished fifth in the all-around (37.075) and placed fourth on vault (9.5).

"It was good competition," Meyrick said. "It's a stepping stone for the future."