New Trier succeeded at their meet Tuesday, Jan. 24 against Carmel, beating New Trier’s previous record.

The team had standout gymnasts at the meet, including freshman Maeve Murdock who scored a 9.65 on beam, freshman Avery Faulkner with a 9.7 on floor, and senior Ally Smith who competed in all around for the first time.

Although the team was defeated by Carmel by .25 points, the Trevians scored 149.3, up from their previous high score of a 147.5.

The team was happy with their score because Carmel is a difficult team to beat.

Murdock said, “We were looking to have fun and just do our best. We knew we had a chance but at the same time we didn’t want to put too much pressure on ourselves, so we tried to have a lot of fun with it, especially because it was senior night!”

Murdock had an outstanding performance at the meet, scoring a 9.65 on beam and 37.5 all around.

The team’s head coach Jennifer Pistorius explained, “Our routines were better and we knew scores would reflect that, but we didn’t think we would smash the school record like we did. We knew it would be close since Carmel is competitive with us.”

This was New Trier’s second competition against Carmel, and captain and senior Ally Smith said, “We have improved tremendously since the beginning of season but so has Carmel so it was a really fun meet to see everyone sticking their skills.”

The meet against Carmel was also Senior Night for the Trevians. This is a night were the Seniors are celebrated for their commitment to the team and their accomplishments over past four the years.

“Going into Senior Night was emotional because we all love our seniors. The experience was so fun because everyone wants to end on a high note, especially the seniors,” Murdock said.

Senior night provided Smith with time to reflect on her past years with the team. She explained, “Gymnastics is a very particular sport because you practice with the same group of girls freshman through senior year regardless of what team you’re on.”

“The transition to senior year has added a lot of responsibility because you become the moral and emotional support for the younger girls instead of being the ones needing it.”

Murdock shared her enthusiasm and love for the captains, “they both do small things to help people do the best they can, for example always talking to underclassmen. They make it so clear that people from all grades can be good friends, so everyone on the team is really close.”

Pistorius reflected on the bond this team shares and said, “Smith and Keehn are fantastic captains and we are one team together. Our team is different in the fact that out of the seven girls on the Varsity team, four are freshman, so it took a bit for all the freshmen to adapt to high school gymnastics, but we seem to have the team bonding down.”

Along with the strong bond of the team, hard work and dedication drive the gymnasts to success. “Our success has come from dedication before our season even started.

We practiced Monday-Friday four hours each day and all that time before season as well as the passion and dedication during season is accumulating awesome success!”

Their coach also shared her feelings about the hardworking team.

“This is probably the hardest working group top to bottom. In years past, there were girls who were a little more social and didn’t work as hard, but the coaches haven’t had to tell someone to get back to practicing.”

The girls’ hard work has been paying off with a new team record of 149.3. With a few weeks of season remaining, the team is optimistic given their improving performances, all time high scores, and team cohesiveness.