March 17, 2017 at 5:17 p.m.
Circumstances hindered Hodags in 2016-17
Circumstances hindered Hodags in 2016-17
The Hodags finished second in the GNC Small behind Medford after losing by less than a quarter of a point to the Raiders in a dual meet Jan. 31 in Medford.
Rhinelander still had a chance to tie the Raiders for the conference crown at the GNC meet Feb. 18 in Mosinee but, without two of its three top all-arounders due to injury, is wasn't really a fair fight and the Hodags finished second - more than a point and a half behind the Raiders.
The Hodags still managed to post solid scores in most of their competitions despite a boatload of circumstances that continued to hold them back - from a litany of injuries to a pertussis outbreak that prevented the team from practice to 2 1/2 weeks.
"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)," co-coach Heather Sturtevant said earlier this month at the team's banquet. "I'm really proud of all the girls. Any time we had to ask them to do anything they did it."
Here are five things to know about this year's season.
Illness and injury
It seemed like none of Rhinelander's top gymnasts were immune from the injury bug.
Makayla Kuester started the year on the shelf with a hip issue, Raven Sturtevant missed a meet due to illness and the Hodags were without two of their top all-arounders when it mattered most.
Stephanie Kuester missed the final three meets of the season due to a head/neck injury and Alyssa Mitchell sustained a broken arm at practice, cutting her season short.
Competing shorthanded
"I just can't wait to see what we can do when we actually have a healthy, full squad," Heather Sturtevant said following a dual meet loss Jan. 17 to Antigo.
Unfortunately for the Hodags, that never happened.
While the Hodags were able to field full lineups for all of their dual meets, where the injuries and illnesses took their biggest toll was during weekend invites. Rhinelander posted its three lowest scores of the season - 83.15, 94.375 and 89.5 - during Saturday invitationals in the month of January.
The common thread in those meets: The Hodags had fewer than the minimum four girls needed to factor in the team score in at least one of the four events in each meet.
Getting better
If there was one silver lining regarding the team's never-ending injury and illness woes is that it afforded some underclassmen a chance to break into the starting lineup.
While, for the most part, those underclassmen did not match the scores their injured counterparts would have scored, they improved throughout the season, as evidenced by the fact that seven of the team's members scored varsity personal bests during the season - and that's excluding freshmen such as Amber Briggs, Emily Radke and Cassie Choinski who made their varsity debuts this season.
"It seemed like someone was getting a personal best in something every meet," Heather Sturtevant said.
Strong at GNCs
It all seemed to come together for the Hodags at the Great Northern Conference meet when, despite missing both Stephanie Kuester and Mitchell, the team posted a score of 114.525 points to stay within shouting distance of Medford.
Sophomore Raven Sturtevant finished second in the all-around that day with a career-best score of 31.0 points. Harlie Zimmermann recorded a career-high on uneven bars (7.4) en route to a third-place finish in the event and the team - which fell 11 times on balance beam two nights earlier during a dual against Chequamegon - fell only three times in the event at conference, significantly improving its score.
"Without Alyssa and Steph - both very strong all-arounds - the other girls really, really stepped up," co-coach April Denis said. "They were focused, did what they needed and we stayed on the balance beam. That was huge for us. They slowed down a little bit and really fought for everything."
What's next
The good news for the Hodags is that all of its varsity gymnasts are due to return next year and, with a little luck, will avoid the injury bug.
"Now, hopefully, the girls will have plenty of time to heal," Heather Sturtevant said after the team placed sixth at a WIAA Division 2 sectional meet in Antigo last month. "If we can really start with Alyssa and Steph coming back and then with Raven and Harlie and some of these other girls that were filling in to round out each event, we can only look up for next season. I'm very excited and hope that, that all works and everybody is back."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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