Record night for Carmel

Sarah Cohen-Smith competed in one event Saturday night.

She made the most of it.

The Carmel Catholic sophomore earned a career-best 9.7 on vault in the Lake Forest Invitational, helping spark the Corsairs on what turned out to be a memorable night for them.

Cohen-Smith hit a Yurchenko layout with good distance to beat her previous high of a 9.6 in the Rolling Meadows Invitational earlier in the season. She chalked up a third-place medal.

“I believe it’s all the practice and the influence from the team,” Cohen-Smith said. “It’s all about our drive. We all want to do our personal bests and then it’s what we can do for the team. We all have fun and work together.”

The Corsairs were certainly inspired.

Carmel scored a school-record and winning 150.225, besting its previous high-water mark of 149.9. Carmel finished well ahead of Lyons (144.775), Lake Forest (143.9) and Prairie Ridge (139.625) in the 12-team field.

“What I love about this team is that they have made it here and they can get excited about it,” Carmel coach Sarah Doyle said. “But it doesn’t change their approach in practice. The girls know they’ve earned it. There are still some things that they can improve on. They devoted themselves in the gym and worked hard over the break.”

The Corsairs earned second, third and fourth places in the all-around as Lauren Feely (37.75), Kristin Mirski (37.65) and Jen Zeller (37.575) each contributed.

“We just want to do things similar to what we do in practice,” Feely said.

Mirski picked up seconds on vault (9.75) and floor (9.65) and fourth on bars (9.3). Zeller was second on beam (9.45) and tied for second on bars with Conant’s Brie Bibel (9.4). Carmel’s Anna Brandmeier took fifth on beam (9.3). Feely danced to a third-place effort on floor (9.6) and took fifth on beam (9.275).

Jenny Covers of Prairie Ridge won the all-around with a 38.25 and stuck her Yurchenko vault good enough to earn a 9.9. She also won floor (9.7) and bars (9.7).

Covers had a fall on beam (her last event) and settled for an 8.95.

“Everything was great except for one mistake on the beam,” Covers said. “It was the first time I hit that vault in a meet. I thought the vault I hit was better than last year’s.”

Covers received a 10 for a Yurchenko layout she executed last year at Barrington.

Lake Forest’s Katie Meier picked up the top spot on beam (9.45).

Conant’s Bibel earned her career best score on bars (9.4).

“Hard work does pays off,” said Bibel, a freshman who received her other medal in the Rolling Meadows Invitational on the vault. “I’ve just improved so much with all the practice.”