Carmel Catholic snares regional title

Vernon Hills won the Central Suburban North girls gymnastics meet last Friday and was ready for its regional on Tuesday night.

Freshman Becca Tran was one Cougars gymnast who had watched her older sister Ali compete several years ago and waited for her time to perform in the state series.

Tran qualified for sectionals on the vault, bars and all-around, finishing in the top 5 while she can also qualify at-large on beam and on the floor.

Carmel Catholic was the regional champion with a 148.15, Vernon Hills second (136.45) and Deerfield third (134.275), followed by Lakes (100.925) and Wauconda (54.5).

Ali Tran, a 2013 Vernon Hills graduate. set some high marks for the Cougars in her career. Now, she's in graduate school at the University of Minnesota for physical therapy.

"I thought this was different from club," Becca Tran said. "I was really nervous this week coming in. But I tried to stay calm through warmups and after that I had to breathe and do my routines. I did talk to my sister and she told me how much fun it is. She has helped me out over the years and helped me choreograph my floor routine."

Becca Tran's best event was on the vault Tuesday in hitting her Yurchenko pike with a 9.3 that was good for fourth place, She also was fourth on bars (8.775) and fifth in the all-around 35.35.

"My vault was probably my best event," Tran said. "I had a good run and landing. I thought my bars set improved a lot."

The Corsairs' Lyndsey Basara was the top gymnast in the all-around with a 37.7. She also had top spots on floor (9.7), vault (9.65), bars (9.35) and was fourth on beam (9.0).

"Definitely, floor was the best, because the last couple of meets I have struggled with my middle pass," Basara said. "I was able to put that behind me and finally get a good routine down."

Carmel also earned he tother three spots in the all-around from Claire Keane (37.625), Isabella Kropiwiec (37.25) and Amanda Hamann (35.575).

Kropiwiec was second on vault (9.575) followed by Keane (9.55) and Hamann fifth (9.1). Keane chalked up second on bars (9.325) and Kropiwiec was third (9.125). Keane earned top honors on beam with a 9.4, Hamann was second (9.25), and Kropiwiec third (9.075). On floor, Kropiwiec was runner-up (9.475), Keane (9.35) second and Hamann third (9.05).

"This is obviously encouraging and we've been putting a lot of work into our finishes," Carmel coach Sarah Mikrut Doyle said. "I'm noticing that improvement and little things like that definitely add up. These three weeks are stressful and we talk about how honest are you feeling. It's a grind and we rely on the non-competitors on the team really to lighten it up and be there for each other. We've also gotten to a point with a confidence as a team. Everything that they are doing they can do. It's something that they do every day and lets put it into the meet."

Vernon Hills' Alyse Lichtenstein qualified fifth on floor (9.0) and beam (8.75). Deerfield's Emma Kerstein was fifth on bars (8.625)