Girls gymnastics: Tran sisters lead Vernon Hills to Lake County crown

It was a runaway Tran for Vernon Hills at the Lake County gymnastics invitational Saturday at Stevenson in Lincolnshire.

Livy and Becca Tran finished first and second, respectively, in the all-around to lead Vernon Hills to the team title with a score of 144.40.

Livy Tran, who is a sophomore, won the all-around with a 37.65. She also won the beam with a 9.45, edging out sister Becca and Carmel's Alyssa, who each had a 9.40.

"It went really well," Livy Tran said. "I am really proud of myself because I have been working hard in the gym. I am just looking to be confident as possible."

Becca Tran, who is a senior, finished with a 37.10 in the all-around.

"My beam was best event," Becca Tran said. "I lost to my sister but that is OK."

The Tran sisters had solid help from Annika Chudy, who was 11th in the all-around and second on the vault. Jessica DeLorm, who was 30th in the all-around, along with Sarah Gutowski and Christina Raquel also were key contributors.

"It is nice to have a sister pair in there," Vernon Hills coach Denise Caron said. "They support one another and it is awesome having both of them."

Vernon Hills was second in the state last year. The Cougars have their eyes set on the top prize this season in February at Palatine. There were four Lake County teams at the state meet last season and with Carmel, Barrington and Warren looming this year, finishing first at the Lake County Invite gives Vernon Hills a leg up.

"I think we are pulling together at the right time," Caron said. "It is the nice thing moving into Lake County and into conference. We see a lot of schools that are top in the state so it is kind of nice to see where we are."

Carmel was second with a 142.325. The Corsairs got big performances from Alyssa Arends, who was fifth in the all-around with a 35.975, and Ava Fendel, who was 15th with a 34.25. Julia Bukowski, Sarah Arends, Emma Haas and Lily Bruschuck also performed well with captain and all-arounder Chloe Byrne out with an illness.

"It was so cool to see our other girls step up," Carmel coach Sarah Mikrut-Doyle said. "Just loved to see them step into roles and be ready for anything and do it for their team."

Barrington was third with a 140.475. The Fillies failed to qualify for state last season and coach Jason Loeffler said they will need a better performance than they had in Saturday to qualify this year.

"It wasn't bad," Loeffler said. "But just the amount of falls we took today just puts things into perspective for them going forward. If they want to be successful this year, we just can't take these falls."

Barrington was led by Ellie Marquis, who won the floor with a 9.60 and was eighth in the all-around with a 35.775. Sofia Rosenzweig was sixth in the all-around with a 35.95, Anika Patel was 25th in the all-around while Sierra Stennett, Ember Stennett and Adriana Merzyn also had their scores count for the Fillies.

Amanda Hamann won the vault with a 9.55 and finished third in the all-around with a 36.025. She helped lead the Blue Devils to a fourth-place finish with a 140.10.

Libertyville's Anna Becker won the bars with a 9.45 while teammate Ally Humbert was seventh in the all-around with a 35.90.

Stevenson's Emma Fang was fourth in the all-around with a 36.95.