Girls gymnastics: Carmel Catholic wins Lake County Invitational with season-high score
The Carmel Catholic girls gymnastics team continued to climb its way up the rankings with yet another season-high score Saturday afternoon at the Lake County Invitational hosted by Lake Forest.
The Corsairs rolled to the championship of the 12-team meet with 143.825 points to soar past runner-up Stevenson with 138.05 points. The host Scouts placed third with 137.55 points after edging Carmel last week at their own invite. But a season-ending injury to No. 1 all-arounder Lyla Drowne has dropped Lake Forest's team score now by at least six points.
Vernon Hills placed fourth with 135.925 points followed by D117 Antioch/Lakes co-op (130.2) in sixth, Lake Zurich (129.9) in seventh and Barrington (129.8) in eighth.
Vernon Hills junior Mya Brusso nipped Mundelein senior Lexie Ede 37.45 to 37.35 for first place in the all-around competition followed by Stevenson's Kate Staub (36.375) in third. Carmel teammates Alyssah Arends (36.25) and freshman Maddie Doyle (36.075) went 4-5.
“(Arends) was sick in our last meet so she had a stronger meet for sure, and they're getting cleaner and paying attention to details more,” said Carmel coach Sarah Mikrut Doyle. “We're just looking for improvement in every meet. I saw that in a lot of routines, and we've just got to keep chipping away.”
Stevenson's Selma Markicic took seventh in the all-around while Carmel freshman Brooklyn Doyle and Barrington's Anna Kruse tied for eighth. Vernon Hills' Olivia Miller placed 12th overall while Antioch/Lakes' Evelyn Perna placed 13th.
“It was a really good day for the girls, and I'm really proud of them,” said Stevenson assistant coach Elizabeth Prostka. “They are continuing to improve at every meet, and Kate's best event was vault. But she had a great routine on beam that she should be very proud of.”
Antioch/Lakes' Isabella Aya placed 15th followed by Vernon Hills' Kendall Sobacki in 16th and Lake Zurich's Parvana Gireesh in 17th.
“It was one of our highest scores this season, and from the beginning of the season to now we've made a lot of small improvements that have made the difference in our team score,” said Vernon Hills coach Denise Caton. “Today floor wasn't her (Brusso's) best event, but she was consistent throughout all four events.”
Brusso placed third in the state all-around as a sophomore. “I'm very happy with my performance, and it was a good day with a lot of good gymnasts here,” Brusso said. “The ultimate goal would be to win all-around (at state), but I'm only a junior so I don't want to pressure myself too much.”
Antioch/Lakes coach Kristie Blasinski was happy with her squad's performance. “It was one of our top three scores, and Isabella and Evelyn had good meets today,” Blasinski said. “We're really focusing on getting some new upgrades in for our freshman (Audrey Kos) to increase her score which helps the team score.”
Lake Zurich teammates Natalia Skora and Emme Zabel placed 21-22 overall, while Libertyville's Nishika Kale placed 22nd.
“(Kruse) looked solid, there's definitely room for improvement and we haven't put in all of her skills yet,” said Barrington assistant coach Samantha Panther. “They've probably been working the hardest on beam because they want to hit 5-for-5 on that event, and we had one fall today.”
Ede won balance beam (9.6) and floor exercise (9.5) while Brusso placed first on vault (9.6) and uneven bars (9.45). Carmel's Elyana Rodriguez placed fifth on vault while teammate Hollyn Krogman was fifth on floor. Warren's Nora Werner placed fifth on uneven bars.