December 9, 2020 at 1:20 p.m.
Team Preview: RHS gymnastics
RHS gymnasts ready to show off new digs in Hodag Dome
Team Preview: RHS gymnastics
The Hodags are eager to show off their new facility, which gives them a more permanent home than what they had in the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium, but know they will only be able to do so for a limited audience this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We have a lot of home meets this year, but it's really going to just be the two teams, the coaches and two guests per gymnast, and that's pretty much it," coach Heather Sturtevant said. "That will be different. We were hoping to showcase our new digs and the dome to the public. It's kind of sad we won't be able to do that."
Rhinelander will be back in its new home tomorrow, hosting Marshfield and Wisconsin Rapids in a non-conference meet.
As the Hodags take to the gym, they welcome back a pair of fourth-year starters as well as a few other pieces from last year's squad.
The team will be led by seniors Lilli Bishop and Bridget Koser. Bishop was Rhinelander's top gymnast a year ago at the Great Northern Conference meet, placing fifth on the balance beam and the all-around before her season was cut short days later by an injury in practice that prevented her from competing at sectionals.
Koser scored top-10 finishes for Rhinelander on floor exercise and balance beam at conference last season. She also had an eighth-place finish on floor during last year's WIAA sectional meet.
"They're looking pretty good and hoping to do all-around, especially Lilli coming back from her injury at the end of the season last year," Sturtevant said. "She's working bars. It will be a little bit of a different routine but at least she's, hopefully, going to be able to (compete). Same with Bridget. She's been working vault so I'm thinking we'll see her on all four. That's good."
Behind those two, sophomore Payton Rudawski has the most varsity experience on the team. She was a three-event starter for the Hodags last year and her season was highlighted by a sixth-place showing at conference on the balance beam.
"Payton is definitely one of our go-tos for floor and vault," Sturtevant said. "She's actually been working bars a little bit, probably won't be ready for (the opener) but, depending on how the season goes, she's trying to put something together in case we have to fill that fifth spot."
Sophomore Genna Fulge also returns after working her way into the starting lineup last year on uneven bars.
The remaining upperclassmen on the squad are senior Julia Burke, junior Karissa Lavender and sophomore Leta Cole. The team has also welcomed four freshmen this year who competed at the middle school level - Emma Chiamulera, Annabelle Huff, Alexa Lukes and Claire Wilberding.
"Alexa Lukes is coming in as an all-around but the other girls have some real nice skills," Sturtevant said. "I'm kind of getting to know them, but they're starting to get that confidence coming from the middle school to the high school. It's a little daunting at first, but we're seeing the girls settle in to their skills."
Sturtevant said she expects floor exercise to be the team's strong suit as it has been in years past and noted the girls will look to improve scores on balance beam and uneven bars by paying attention to details.
"I think we're going to see some nice, strong numbers on beam. We'll kind of go from there," she said. "We're still struggling on bars, as far as those higher skills to get those higher starting values, but the girls have just been working on cleaning up their score. We learned that last year, that an easier routine done clean can still score really well. We're really focusing more on that this year."
This year's schedule will look slightly different for the Hodags, with several non-conference invites taken off the docket due to the pandemic. Overall, the Hodags have seven meets scheduled before the GNC meet Feb. 13 in Medford.
"We definitely are missing those big invites where we could get an idea of other teams in our section, that kind of stuff," Sturtevant said. "That will be missed, but I think as long as we can keep moving forward, the main thing is getting the feedback from the judges so we know what to work on. Whether we're against one team or 10 teams, it's still the same judging and that's what we need."
Based on last year's numbers, Sturtevant said she still considers Medford to be the favorite in the GNC Small, however she cautioned, that based on who came out for the other GNC squads and who may or may not be available on any given meet night, that anything could happen in the conference this season. The Hodags finished second in the GNC Small behind the Raiders a season ago.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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