Osowski delivers in a pinch for Carmel
by bob gosman Contributor January 16, 2012 6:22PM
Carmel's Lauren Feely performs on the bars at the Lake County Invitational on Saturday at Lake Forest High School. | Joel Lerner~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: February 20, 2012 8:17AM
On most high school gymnastics teams, Carmel Catholic junior Kari Osowski would be a fixture in all-around.
For the two-time defending state champion Corsairs, it’s another story. Typically, the Corsairs use Osowski exclusively as a bars specialist. While Osowski would love to compete in all-around, her attitude has been exemplary nonetheless.
“She’s such a team player,” said Carmel coach Sarah Doyle. “She never complains; she just does what she’s asked.”
During Saturday’s Lake County Invitational at Lake Forest High School, an opportunity came Osowski’s way, and she seized it. With junior Anna Brandmeier out with a wrist injury, Osowski was able to step in and compete in every event.
She responded with 8.8 on bars, 9.15 on floor exercise and a statement-making 9.25 on beam (5th place).
“No one had really seen my beam routine,” she said. “I got to do my aerial layout and it was cool to debut that.”
Osowski was just as proficient on floor (13th place).
“That was the best floor routine I’ve seen her do,” Doyle said. “She did so well; it was great to see her shine like that.”
Three of Osowski’s scores counted for the team total, and Carmel won going away with 151.05. Carmel finished about 2.75 points shy of its school-record performance, set the week before at the Lake Forest Invitational.
Stevenson (146.2) and Lake Forest (145.78) finished second and third, respectively.
“Kari had an awesome meet,” said junior Lauren Feely. “She has improved her skills and did what she needed to do. I am so proud of her.”
Feely and Fozzie Bear: Each season, a theme is implemented for the Lake County Invitational. This year, “The Muppets” took over the Lake Forest gymnasium. The nine teams were divided into three, three-team pools. The team names were Miss Piggy, Kermit and Fozzie Bear.
Carmel, along with Libertyville and Vernon Hills, were on the Fozzie team. They walked into the gym with T-shirts featuring Fozzie Bear, and Muppets memorabilia covered the gym.
Does Feely consider herself a Muppets expert?
“I don’t really know that much about them,” she said with a smile.
What Feely is an expert at is winning invitationals in impressive fashion. Feely dominated the all-around competition (38.7), highlighted by a personal-best 9.95 on vault (1st place). She placed first on bars (9.6), and was second on floor (9.7) and beam (9.45).
If not for a fall on beam and an automatic .5 deduction, Feely might have scored a personal-best in that event as well.
“My beam has improved from the beginning of the year,” she said. “I’m working on not having any little bobbles and (staying) right on top of the beam.”
Feely was close to a perfect 10 on vault.
“If she doesn’t take a small step, I can’t image where the deduction would have come from,” Doyle said.
All for one: Carmel doesn’t feature a surplus of depth, but each gymnast played a role in the victory.
Senior Kristin Mirski was at her best on floor, scoring 9.675 (1st place). She was third on vault (9.7), and her all-around score (37.95) earned her second place.
Her performance on vault was particularly significant.
“She has a sore ankle and she still was energetic on vault; she nailed it,” Doyle said.
Junior Sarah Cohen-Smith won on beam (9.5) and was second on vault (9.8).
“Sarah has been ridiculously consistent for us on beam,” Doyle said.
Senior Jen Zeller earned a share of fourth-place on beam.
Injury report: The Corsairs are hopeful that Brandmeier will be able to return to the lineup for postseason action.
“We’ll see how she feels, but she is (determined) to come back,” Doyle said. “She’s an extremely hard worker and stays in incredible shape.”
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