Girls gymnastics: Carmel wins sectional with highest score in state
The final pressure-packed step on the road to the 2026 IHSA girls state gymnastics meet took place at the powerful Lake Forest sectional Thursday night.
After trailing Glenbrook South 108.375 to 108.25 heading into floor exercise, Carmel Catholic came through big time as the Corsairs overtook the Titans to capture their 12th sectional title in school history by a score of 145.0 to 143.725.
Shorthanded Stevenson took sixth place with 136.6 points.
Carmel's score is the highest heading into the Elite Eight state meet followed by Prairie Ridge co-op (144.575), Downers Grove co-op (144.2), Glenbrook South (143.725) and Lake Park (143.425). The other state qualifiers are Lincoln-Way co-op (141.6), Conant (141.575), and Andrew (140. 875).
The unofficial cut-off scores for the state meet are 35.125 points in the all-around, 9.3 on vault, 8.85 on uneven bars, 8.775 on balance beam, and 9.025 on floor exercise.
"I'm very proud of this team, and our goal was to get Carmel Catholic back to state," said Carmel coach Sarah Mikrut Doyle, who is in her 25th season. "We just got the highest score in the state, we just won a sectional, and I was super excited to see them shine on floor (36.75 points) after beam (35.4 points), and they pulled it off."
Glenbrook South's Annika Troncoso (37.475 points) edged Mundelein's Lexie Ede (37.3 points) for the all-around title while Vernon Hills junior Mya Brusso (37.225) was a close third. The top five finishers in each event along with 12 at-large qualifiers will compete in the state meet next weekend at Palatine High School.
A fall on uneven bars resulted in an 8.65 for Ede, but she won beam with a 9.55, she took second on vault (9.6), and second on floor (9.6).
"I'm happy with how my first three events went, and sometimes I have off days on the release in do (on uneven bars)," said Ede. "I just really want to hit 4-for-4 (at state) and go out on a high note."
Carmel freshmen identical twins Maddie and Brooklyn Doyle placed 6-7 in the all-around while senior teammate Alyssah Arends placed eighth. Stevenson's Kate Staub placed 10th overall while Lake Zurich's Parvana Gireesh tied for 17th.
"It definitely was not my best meet scoring-wise, but I'm still happy with the results," said Brusso, who placed third in the state all-around last year. "I've just got to go into (state) with focus and lock in."
Brusso won vault with a 9.65 while tying for second on uneven bars (9.375) with Warren senior Nora Werner. Brusso (9.375) took third on floor and Arends took third on vault (9.525). Carmel's Hollyn Krogman tied for fourth on beam (9.125) and Staub took fifth on vault (9.425).
"She (Staub) had a fall on beam and floor exercise and it was a really good floor routine, but she sat down," said veteran Stevenson coach Judy Harwood. "Hazal Sevinc got a 9.2 on bars, and she can actually do a little better (at state) because she was taking it easy on her ankle."
Maddie Doyle added a fourth on uneven bars (9.35), and a fifth on uneven bars (9.175). Arends placed fifth on floor (9.225) while easily reaching state on beam with a sixth-place 9.1.