Carmel in command at county invite

Breaking the 150 mark for Carmel Catholic’s girls gymnastic team has almost become routine of late.

But on Saturday, staying at the same lofty level as last week’s high-water mark of 153.725 was too much to ask.

Carmel still posted a 151.05 to take top honors in the Lake County gymnastics invitational held at Lake Forest.

Stevenson edged Lake Forest for the second spot (146.2 to 145.78) and Barrington finished fourth (140.325) in the nine-team field.

“There’s a lot of questions about peaking with last week,” Carmel coach Sarah Doyle said. “All I want from the girls each meet is to feel confident, be a little more aggressive and stay healthy.

“We don’t have a crazy amount of depth, but the depth we do have is enough. We’ve had some girls sick this week and I wanted to get through this meet staying healthy and moving on to the next step.”

The Corsairs were without Anna Brandmeier, who will be missed for a few weeks with a stress fracture in her wrist.

Carmel’s Lauren Feely just missed perfection on her vault with a personal-best top score of 9.95. Feely also captured the all-around (38.7) and bars (9.6), while taking second on floor (9.7) and beam (9.45).

“I just want to stick my landing and work on the small stuff,” said Feely of her vault. “I know I have the vault now, and it’s trying to perfect it and make it count.”

The Corsairs’ Kristin Mirski had the best floor routine, delivering a personal-best 9.75. Mirski also placed second in the all-around (37.95) and took third on vault (9.7).

“You get a little nervous going into your first pass,” said Mirski, who did hit her first pass of her floor routine. “I just thought, ‘I got this, and I can do it.’ The landing was so good, so then I knew I could enjoy it. You just go for it all and go all out.”

Sarah Cohen-Smith won beam for the first time with a 9.5 and also placed second on vault (9.8).

“I was trying to stay focused and relaxed,” Cohen-Smith said. “I was breathing and counting to myself. But it was great to have the rest of the team there to support me.”

Carmel’s Jen Zeller tied for fourth on beam with Lake Forest’s Kylie Carlson (9.65), and Kari Osowski placed fifth (9.25) for the Corsairs.

Stevenson put together a good effort for the second spot without the services of Therese Wojton, who injured her ankle at the Oswego Invite at the end of December. Wojton is expected to be out for a couple more weeks.

“We still can do better and polish things up a bit,” said Stevenson coach Judy Hardwood. “We’re consistently up there, but if the girls work hard over the next couple of weeks, we will be there.”

The Patriots’ Ali Castriano finished fourth in the all-around (37.6), fourth on beam (9.3) and tied for fourth on floor with Barrington’s Tiffany Persels (9.45).

Libertyville’s Mariah Lee and Vernon Hills Alli Tran tied for second on the bars with a 9.5.

“I added in a new skill and that’s what helped to bump the score,” said Lee, a sophomore who had her personal best score. “It was much better than I expected. I’ve only done that routine one other time.”

The Wildcats’ Jenna Dunsing finished third on the beam (9.35).

Barrington was able to get over 140 for a season-best score while competing against teams it hasn’t seen this season.

“We had a lot of firsts in this meet,” Barrington coach Jason Loeffler said. “We threw a lot of new things in our routines and got that out of our way. Now, we don’t have to worry about that and just work on things to improve.

“The girls got a chance to look at some of the top teams in the state. I think it helps to push them for the end of the season.”