March 10, 2017 at 5:08 p.m.
Hodag gymnasts honor achievements at team banquet
Hodag gymnasts honor achievements at team banquet
While most teams hand out awards for the most valuable player, the most improved player and for dedication, the Hodag coaching staff decided to focus on the achievements of their athletes judged in the most tangible way possible - scores.
Two Hodags earned all-around awards for posting scores of 30 points or higher in a single event this season - junior Stephanie Kuester and sophomore Raven Sturtevant. The same two, along with Kuester's twin sister Makayla, also earned awards for scoring 8.0 or higher in a single event. All three scored in the 8s at least once on vault while Stephanie Kuester also broke the 8.0 barrier in the floor exercise.
"We decided instead of singling out one person who worked the hardest or one achievement, we had so many achievements every meet," RHS co-head coach Heather Sturtevant explained. "It seemed like someone was getting a personal best in something every meet. We decided instead of doing one or two (awards) we wanted to honor all the major achievements."
Seven of the teams gymnasts received medals for scoring high school personal bests this year (freshmen, who automatically recorded personal best were excluded from this award).
Mikayla Evenstad earned personal bests in all four events as well as the all-around. Sturtevant recorded a personal best in the all-around and every individual event except the floor exercise. Harlie Zimmermann scored personal bests on floor, uneven bars and balance beam; Makayla Kuester scored lifetime marks on floor, vault and uneven bars; Alyssa Mitchell earned personal bests on vault and uneven bars; Stephanie Kuester had a personal best on floor and Mattia Beske hit a career high on balance beam.
The Hodags, plagued by injury and illness much of the season, finished second in the Great Northern Conference Small division, despite competing in the conference meet without two of its three starting all-arounders - Stephanie Kuester and Mitchell. The Hodags also endured a 2 1/2-week period of inactivity in late December due to a pertussis outbreak that swept through the school.
"It was a tough season due to injuries and sickness and not being able to practice for two weeks when it was a crucial time (in our development)," Heather Sturtevant said. "I'm really proud of all the girls. Any time we had to ask them to do anything they did it.
"We're still a team that's growing, thank goodness. But I'm just proud of the hard work that everybody did this season."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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