January 18, 2019 at 12:59 p.m.
RHS gymnasts knock off Lakeland
Hodags improve to 3-0 in GNC Small
RHS gymnasts knock off Lakeland
Raven Sturtevant won three of the four events, as well as the individual all-around, and the Hodags swept the top five spots in two events as they improved to 3-0 in the GNC Small ahead of a dual against fellow GNC Small unbeaten Medford coming up Feb. 5 in Rhinelander.
"We're still struggling on a few things, but more are starting to gel, get more consistent," RHS gymnastics coach Heather Sturtevant said.
That was particularly true on the floor exercise. Though the Hodags scored a 30.2 in the event and swept the top five positions, coach Sturtevant said there were several little details that cost the team fractions of a point here and there.
"We definitely need to tighten up our jumps now that we're getting into the midseason," she said. "Things that weren't deductions at the beginning of the season are (now). So taking an extra little step, a re-adjustment, not quite hitting the 180 (degree mark) on our splits. Those kinds of things are now being judged harder, which is a good thing because we need to be improving. We know what we need to do and we can add to that."
Vault was Rhinelander's top-scoring event of the night with a 31.875. Sophomore Autumn Shafer led the Hodags in that event, finishing second with a career-high score of 8.225.
"Autumn's vault, that was really cool. She's been hanging right at the 8 (mark), so to get over 8.2, that was awesome," coach Sturtevant said. "Very proud of our girls on vault today, and beam. We had only the one no-fall routine but the rest of the girls only fell once. Collectively, I'm really proud of that score."
Raven Sturtevant won the floor exercise (7.85), balance beam (7.7) and uneven bars (6.95), and was third on the vault (8.2), as she won the individual all-around with a score of 30.7. Lakeland's Sarah Thompson was the only other gymnast to compete on varsity in all four events. She recorded a 25.75 score.
Sturtevant, Bridget Koser and Amber Briggs swept the top three for Rhinelander on balance beam; Sturtevant, Shafer and Lilli Bishop went 1-2-3 on the floor and Sturtevant, Bishop and Koser were the top three on uneven bars.
Lakeland's Julie Neuberg won the vaulting competition (8.35).
The Hodags are back in action this morning, competing in the Rice Lake Invite. With some larger Division 1 schools in the field, coach Sturtevant said the team will focused more on improving its scores rather than to where it places.
"The girls are looking forward to Rice Lake," she said. "It's another one where there are really no expectations on us. We'll tweak a couple of things, look at the tapes, review a couple of things and then just try to beat our own scores on Saturday from today."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.