January 8, 2018 at 1:34 p.m.
Hodag gymnasts take fifth at Wisconsin Rapids Invite
Hodag gymnasts take fifth at Wisconsin Rapids Invite
The Hodags scored 119.25 points, the exact total it finished with five days earlier in a dual meet win at Lakeland. That, in itself, felt like a win for Hodag co-coach Heather Sturtevant in a field that included six Division 1 schools and Division 2 powerhouse Ashland.
"The fact that we still got a 119.25, we were against some serious big dogs and the judges purposely score low to make room for some of the big skills," she said. "Normally we're a few points down at this meet and the fact we were the same was huge."
One big reason the Hodags' score did not drop was their performance on balance beam. The team has had a difficult time staying on the apparatus during its first few competitions, but took only one fall off the beam Saturday en route to a season-best score of 29.4.
"We didn't do as many new things as we hoped, but we really cleaned up a lot. The one fall on beam, the girls just nailed it," Sturtevant said.
Junior Raven Sturtevant had the Hodags' best score in three of the four events and placed 13th in the all-around with a career-best score of 31.75 points. She placed 10th on balance beam (7.75), 15th on uneven bars (7.45) and 19th on floor exercise (8.475).
"Raven got her layout twist and a personal best on floor with an 8.475," Heather Sturtevant said. "She got her best all-around. She got her best on the season on beam. She finally connected a new combination that she's doing."
Stephanie Kuester was 16th in the all-around (30.3) and had a team-best tie for 13th on vault (8.3).
Balance beam was the only event in which the Hodags scored multiple top-20 finishes. Alyssa Mitchell was 13th (7.525) and Stephanie Kuester was 16th (7.425).
Coach Sturtevant said despite a number of freshmen being wide-eyed by some of the routines of the top teams in the field, they were unintimidated when it was their turn to perform.
"Lilli Bishop threw the back tuck she's been working on on her own and got a personal best on floor and beam. Bridget (Koser) and Autumn (Shafer) had a personal best on floor," she said.
The Hodags inched closer to full health Saturday with the return of Makayla Kuester (foot) to the lineup. She missed the last two competitions for the Hodags. Typically a three-event starter for Rhinelander, Kuester competed only on uneven bars Saturday.
The Hodags have 12 days away from competition before heading to Antigo next Thursday for an inter-divisional dual within the Great Northern Conference. Though the result will have no bearing on the GNC Small Division standings, the competition will serve as a mid-season barometer for the Hodags, who could be chasing the Red Robins for a team berth to the WIAA state meet come season's end.
"That is a huge measuring stick for us. We want to see how close we can get, (if) can we beat anybody," Sturtevant said. "We have three non-conference meets before our next conference meet so we're really trying to work girls through, getting them the experience of having a double judge on varsity so that we're putting our best foot forward (later in the season)."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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