Above-average showing for Lake Park in Galatte Invite

Racquel Suhr led the way for Lake Park Saturday at the Rolling Meadows Al Galatte Holiday Invitational girls gymnastics meet.

Suhr, who said she came in looking to "hit the vault as hard as I can and improve as much as I can," won the event with a score of 9.40.

That placement, along with a third-place finish in the balance beam from teammate Julia Kurek, helped the Lancers to take second place overall.

Lake Park's total score of 69.10 was just behind meet winner Glenbard West (70.35).

"This meet, I always say, is a meet of averages," said Lancers coach Jake Luketin. "If you put out routines that are going to hit, and you stay above that 8-5 average, you'll have a good shot at winning."

Barrington boasted the top placement of the eight Mid-Suburban League teams at the invite, taking sixth place with 65.45.

Sarah Reusch (9.10 on vault), Alana Riemenschneider (7th on balance beam) and Lauren Tenbrunsel (7th, floor exercise) all contributed to the Fillies' showing.

Sophomore Emily Weinstein of Stevenson won floor exercise at 9.30.

"We felt really good, really excited coming into today," said Weinstein. "This is a fun meet. We really had no expectations, we just came out to do our best and have fun."

The Patriots finished eighth in the team race.

Carmel grabbed third place overall, led by Kyla Rapplean, who was second on beam with a 9.0. Teammate Isabella Kropiwiec got four on uneven parallel bars at 8.85.

It was the first meet of the year for the Corsairs, and coach Sarah Mikrut-Doyle said that they were "testing the waters."

"As a coach, I know how good they can be," said Mikrut-Doyle of her team. "It's nice to come out here and get the jitters out, and we want to build on this, build confidence and gain consistency. They're a super-talented group, and I'd love to have them see themselves the way I see them. It's my job to help them believe that."

Other top scores of note Saturday were a third-place finish from Karli Ryan of Hoffman Estates (9.05) on floor exercise; Julia Naronowicz (8,95) of Lake Park took four in the same event.

Olivia Tader of Prospect (8.90) finished third on parallel bars, where Lyndsey Basara of Carmel came up with a sixth-place finish.

Danielle Smith of Conant was fifth on beam, just ahead of Mikayla Vogt of Schaumburg (sixth).

Chloe Capuder (eighth on parallel bars) gave a big assist to Lake Park's runner-up finish.

"The girls performed awesome," added Luketin. "They've been exceeding expectations at every single meet."