February 23, 2018 at 12:27 p.m.
Kuester, Sturtevant qualify for state gymnastics
Kuester, Sturtevant qualify for state gymnastics
Kuester scored an 8.8 on the floor exercise Thursday night and qualified for the WIAA state gymnastics meet out of a Division 2 sectional at Sheldon Fieldhouse in Antigo.
She'll be joined as state by junior teammate Raven Sturtevant, who qualified on uneven bars. The Hodags placed third as a team, and while Kuester and Sturtevant barely missed qualifying in other events, they'll both be making their first trip to the state meet next weekend in Wisconsin Rapids.
It all came down to the last event for Kuester, floor exercise, who decided to throw caution to the wind in her final routine.
"Steph, being a senior, she's like 'You know, this is all I've got.' She just left it right out there on the floor and it all came
together for her," Hodag co-coach April Denis said.
That included an additional move on Kuester's first tumbling pass, a back tuck off of a back handspring, that increased the difficulty of her routine. Kuester said she did not try the move in competition this year until Thursday night.
Kuester said knew she had a good performance when she got off the floor, but actually stepped out of the fieldhouse before the judges announced her career-best score, which turned out to be good enough for third place in the event.
"I was getting a drink. I was very thirsty," admitted Kuester, who was in the commons when her teammates found her and told her the good news. "Honestly, I didn't know what to think when they came out in the hallway. I heard them scream, so I knew it was a good score, but I didn't know how good."
Kuester won't head to state alone. Sturtevant scored an 8.05 on uneven bars to tie for the fifth and final qualifying spot in the event which, Sturtevant admitted, was a bit of a surprise.
"I actually wasn't expecting to make it to state on bars. I mean the only (event) that would have been more surprising would have been on vault," she said. "My bar routine went really well. I got all my connections. I was straight and I kept my head in, because I usually don't, and it was just a really nice routine."
Sturtevant said she didn't add any new elements to her bars routine, rather executed the elements of her routine better.
"My body's so flexible so I tend to arch and my head goes back and I get deductions on those things, so it's really just a matter of cleaning those up," she said.
"Raven on bars, she was cleaning things up, trying to keep her body shape in the right positions. It was a clean routine," added Denis. "She had a nice routine, and bars happened to be where she hit."
The finish on the floor was a bit of a redemption for Kuester, who had near misses Thursday on balance beam, uneven bars and in the all-around. She placed seventh on bars, 0.075 points behind Sturtevant for the final qualifying spot. A fall on her first jump on the balance beam cost her a half-point deduction. She missed qualifying on beam by 0.2 points and in the all-around by 0.15 points.
"I know if I didn't fall on beam, I'd definitely have a spot there," Kuester said. "I did mess up on bars a little bit, hitting my toes on the low bar on my uprise and not getting around fully on my clear hip out of my outrise. I knew that was a deduction there. I still got a good score on bars. I feel like I did good, all-around. I'm glad that I got a 32.975. It's the highest I've gotten in my high school career. I feel good about today."
As a team, Rhinelander finished with a season-best score of 121.9 points, but it wasn't good enough to catch Ashland and Antigo for the team state qualifying spots. Ashland won the meet with a 134.55. Antigo was second at 127.45.
"They've really cleaned things up. It was the little, little things - the pointed toes, the straight legs, the body form," Denis said of her squad. "They've been working extra hard, asking a lot of questions ... It's a great feeling to end our season at our high point."
A big reason for the high score was a season-best night on floor exercise. Freshman Lilli Bishop set the tone with a career-high 8.025 in the event. Another freshman, Autumn Shafer followed with a career-best 7.9. Sturtevant added a personal best of 8.55 to finish in seventh place before Kuester's dazzling finale.
"The girls absolutely love doing floor. It started off with Lilli hitting an 8.025. That's her personal best. Hitting an 8 was amazing and I think they girls just fed right off of that," Denis said. "Raven getting her 8.55, she just felt the energy in the gym and from her teammates."
Sturtevant finished eighth in the all-around with a career-best 32.4.
The meet capped off the high school careers of a pair of Hodag gymnasts, Makayla Kuester and Alyssa Mitchell. Makayla Kuester, Stephanie's twin sister, was scratched from the vaulting competition due to a foot injury, but competed on uneven bars where she placed 16th with a 6.825. Mitchell fell twice in her only event, balance beam, and placed 27th with a 6.25.
"For both of them it's kind of bittersweet," Denis said. "Makayla, with all of her injuries, it's been a rough year for her. Hopefully she can heal up a little before softball season starts because she had a whole other season left. Alyssa, her beam score wasn't as high as she'd like it to be, but she really had - minus the two falls - a beautiful beam routine. I know I'm proud of her on that."
For Stephanie Kuester and Sturtevant, the individual portion of the state gymnastics meet will take place Saturday, March 3 in Wisconsin Rapids.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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