Girls Gymnastics: Carmel continues on pace

Updated: February 10, 2012 10:43AM

There was the expected as well as a couple minor surprises during Thursday’s Niles North sectional.

Two-time defending state champion Carmel remained on target for another state title, winning the sectional with 151.760 points, while Stevenson mustered 146.875 points to finish as runner-up and qualify to state as an at-large team.

Those weren’t the only two schools to punch their ticket to Palatine though as New Trier registered 145.950 points and Lake Forest locked up the final at-large birth with 145.375 points.

Not a team in the state has a better trio of all-arounders than the Corsairs and once again the three led the way. Senior Kristin Mirski won the sectional with a 38.45, junior Lauren Feely tied Stevenson’s Ali Castriano for second with a 38.15 and senior Jen Zeller was fourth with a 38.

“There’s obviously nothing I can complain about, they had a good meet,” Carmel coach Sarah Mikrut said. “I think sectional is the worst pressure of the three: regionals, sectionals and prelims. There’s a top five at sectionals and we have such competition in this particular sectional so as a coach it’s a sigh of relief. We’re there and that’s a monkey off our back.”

Feely won vault with a 9.85, Zeller obtained top honors on bars along with Chicago Northside’s Ashley Bernardo, as both finished with a 9.575, and Mirski was the top gymnast on floor with a 9.7.

“Floor wasn’t as clean as it was at regionals, but we’re still getting the job done,” Mikrut said. “I think we’re capable of a little bit more though.”

Lake Forest needed a season-high 36.850 on bars to finish the meet with enough points to qualify for state.

“We did it the hard way with that finish on bars,” Lake Forest coach Robin Strauss said. “Floor is what we’ve done all year and vault was what we do every meet, but we stunk up the joint on beam so we were fortune.”

New Trier freshman Samantha Stoddard won beam with a 9.650 to led the Trevians to their first state appearance in 16 years.

The eight-team IHSA state field includes sectional champions, Carmel, Prairie Ridge, Glenbard North and Lyons and at-large qualifiers, Stevenson, Lake Forest, New Trierand Fremd.

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