'Happy feeling' for Lake Zurich's Topa; Carmel second at New Trier

All Lake Zurich gymnast Joanna Topa is trying to do is improve and put together consistent routines.

So far, so good for the junior.

Lake Zurich scored a school-record 140.525 while taking third place behind New Trier (147.25) and Carmel Catholic (season-best 146.05) in the New Trier quad in Northfield on Saturday. Lakes/Antioch coop was fourth (117).

Topa earned the second spot in the all-around with a 36.9 behind New Trier's Rachel Zun (37.55). Topa also tied for third on beam with Carmel's Clare Keane (9.25) and was consistent in her other events, earning 9.3s on floor exercise and bars and a 9.05 on vault.

"It's a happy feeling because this is one of the best meets that I've had in a long time," Topa said. "The team encourages each other, and that pushed me to do better. I thought my floor and bars were my best events today. I thought bars could've been better, but I'm proud of my routine. Floor, I felt was really good."

And she's confident her best is yet to come.

"I'm already working on new skills for beam," Topa said. "I still need a different release move for bars, and it will take a while."

The Bears aren't satisfied as a group. In practice, their motto is, "142: What are you going to do?" It seems to be helping.

"Getting that 140 is huge for the girls," Lake Zurich coach Chelsie Groteleuschen said. "We're coming together as a team, and it's so cool to see. We still have skills that we haven't put in yet because we're staying clean for the first half of the season. We're trying to stay injury-free. We want them to get the competition under their belt. Then after the winter break, we're hoping to add in more."

Carmel's Izzy Kropiwiec won bars with a 9.5.

"Working on technique all through practice really helped," Kropiwiec said. "I just went out there and put it all in one routine. It was definitely my dream bar routine."

Carmel's Lyndsey Basara was second on bars with a 9.45, and teammate Keane tied for third (9.4).

"I really like what the girls did," Carmel coach Sarah Doyle said. "I pulled a lot of girls out because we're achy. They didn't do our vaults and didn't do our stuff on floor. Bars was one of the best we've had in my coaching career. That was fantastic. Beam was a little off, but that's usually a solid event for us. Finishing the way the they did on bars really did a lot for their confidence."

Carmel's Kyla Rapplean tied for first place on beam (9.55). Basara tied for third on floor (9.4).

New Trier's Darcy Barkal earned top honors on floor (9.45) and vault (9.45).

Lakes/Antioch coop, which hit a season-high 120 against Libertyville and Vernon Hills earlier in the week, had a couple of gymnasts out with sickness.

"We were down a little, but we're doing much better than last year," coach Angelica Campese said. "We have 10 more girls out this year and 19 in the program. It's good to see the team growing and getting better."