Stevenson posts monster score at Lake County invite

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Ali Castriano of the Pats dismounts the balance beam during the Lake County Invitational at Lake Forest High School. | Joel Lerner~Sun-Times Media

Updated: February 20, 2012 8:17AM

Stevenson’s gymnastics team made quite a statement during the Lake County Invitational, held at Lake Forest High School on Saturday.

With Carmel Catholic performing too well for any team to mount a serious challenge, the drama centered on which squad would finish second in the loaded nine-team field. The Patriots were one of the teams that would figure in that conversation, but would they be able to do so without the services of senior Theresa Wojton, out with an ankle injury?

The answer? A resounding … yes!

Stevenson put together one of its gutsiest performances of the season, finishing second at 146.20, just ahead of third-place Lake Forest (145.83). Carmel’s winning score was 151.05. Barrington was the other team to score at least 140, finishing at 140.325.

“I think the younger kids are taking this as a challenge,” said Patriots coach Judy Harwood. “We don’t have the big names this season, but everybody is stepping up, and it’s a total group effort. I think they’re even impressing themselves. I’m really proud of them.”

The field will be similar during sectionals in February.

“This was like a dress rehearsal,” Harwood said. “We feel really good about taking second.”

Castriano cleans up: It was only a matter of time before senior Ali Castriano had a meet in which she excelled in all four events. As it turned out, Saturday provided that opportunity.

“She really deserved to have a good day,” Harwood said. “She’s been working so hard all season and it hasn’t all come together. At Lake County, she put all four events together.”

Castriano placed fourth in all-around with a score of 37.6. She scored 9.6 on vault, 9.45 on floor exercise, 9.3 on beam and 9.25 on bars.

“She was really consistent,” Harwood said. “She worked in (some) big tricks that she’s been (practicing) all season.”

Carmel’s Lauren Feely (38.7) was first in the all-around.

Keys to success: Freshman Elizabeth Shank notched a top-10 showing in all-around with a ninth-place finish (36.3). She scored 9.45 on vault and 9.35 on floor. She experimented with some new tricks on bars, finishing at 8.85.

“She’s been working in some bonus moves, so I think we’ll see a nice improvement in her bars routine,” Harwood said.

Freshman Alyssa Weisberg scored 9.3 on vault and 9.0 on beam. She had one fall on beam and took the automatic .5 deduction. If her routine was clean, she would have scored 9.5.

“That’s a big beam routine,” Harwood said. “She has real powerful legs and is going to be a great gymnast.”

Weisberg also scored 8.8 on floor.

“She’s gaining confidence and really coming on,” Harwood said. “She has a lot more poise than you would expect to see from a freshman.”

Junior Rebecca Feltman-Frank came through with a 9.1 score on bars. Senior Dani Webb tallied 8.95 on vault.

“Those types of performances is how we were able to take second place,” Harwood said.

Junior Riley Trebilco tied for eighth on floor (9.3).

“She has lots of energy on floor,” Harwood said. “Her (routine) is looking really good.”

On the schedule: The Patriots were scheduled to host Libertyville in the final home meet of the season on Wednesday. Stevenson then competes in the Niles West Invitational on Saturday.

Wojton will likely remain out of the lineup.

“It’s one of those bad sprains where you can’t predict it,” Harwood said. “We’ll see what happens and continue chugging along.”