January 21, 2019 at 1:55 p.m.
Hodag gymnasts turn in season-best score in Rice Lake
Hodag gymnasts turn in season-best score in Rice Lake
The Hodags cracked the 120-point mark for the first time this season, putting up a total of 120.225 points as they finished eighth in the 10-team meet comprised of mostly Division 1 schools.
That total was 2.8 points better than what the Hodags scored Thursday night in a GNC Small dual meet win over Lakeland and eclipsed the team's previous high mark of the season of 117.5 points set during the Snowflake Invitational in Rhinelander back on Dec. 8.
"Honestly, we still made mistakes. We can still improve. But having no expectations, the girls did exactly what I wanted them to do. It was go down and try to improve on Thursday and, wow, did they deliver," Heather Sturtevant said.
Raven Sturtevant was Rhinelander's top finisher in three of the four events and placed 13th in the individual all-around with a score of 32.025 points. Her day was highlighted on uneven bars, where a score of 7.925 was good enough to tie for sixth place and earn a spot on the podium.
"I don't know Rhinelander's ever podiumed (in this meet)," Heather Sturtevant said. "We're up against some really big schools, 50 competitors. That was amazing. She did her release move. She did her double uprise, which is a high-level back-to-back and it was awesome."
Raven Sturtevant was also Rhinelander's top performer on balance beam (10th, 7.9) and vault (37th, 8.15).
Autumn Shafer led the team on the floor exercise with a personal-best score of 8.1, which finished in 25th position in the 50-gymnast field.
"That was amazing. She's been so close, a bunch of 7.9s, just not quite getting there," Heather Sturtevant said.
Rhinelander had a number of personal bests on the day, including Lilli Bishop (8.0) and Amber Briggs (7.35) on the vault (8.0), and Bridget Koser on uneven bars (6.9).
Team-wise, Rhinelander posted season-high scores on floor exercise and uneven bars, and had only three falls on the balance beam.
"We had three no-fall routines. That was phenomenal," coach Sturtevant said. "On floor, the girls just nailed everything. A few of those deductions we got on Thursday, we did not get today."
Rhinelander finished one-half point behind Antigo on the day. Based on results during the first half of the season, it appears that it will come down to Antigo, Medford and Rhinelander jockeying for the second team state qualifying position behind Ashland when WIAA sectionals roll around next month in Antigo.
Rhinelander and Medford are also locked in a battle in the GNC Small division. Both teams are 3-0 in the conference heading into a pivotal dual against one another Feb. 5. Medford has been consistently scoring in the 118s and 119s this season.
"We're really just eyeing what can we tighten up on, what can we continue to improve on so when it comes down to that last conference meet against Medford, hopefully we'll be the ones standing on top," Sturtevant said.
The Hodags return to action this Saturday in the Red Robin Invitational at Antigo.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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