December 23, 2021 at 8:26 a.m.
Hodag gymnasts start season with loss to Medford
Hodag gymnasts start season with loss to Medford
With only five gymnasts available Tuesday night, the Hodags were no match for reigning GNC Small Division champion Medford. The Raiders swept the top three in every event and the all-around as they cruised to a 126.875-105.225 win over Rhinelander at the Hodag Dome.
For Rhinelander, which was supposed to open Dec. 11 with the Snowflake Invite at home before it was postponed due to a snowstorm, Tuesday night's result was less about competing with Medford and more about establishing a baseline for the season.
"They definitely have a lot of girls with a lot of skills, and we knew that coming in. We knew we weren't going to be throwing up that kind of score today, and that's OK," coach Heather Sturtevant said. "I saw five girls really giving it their all ... But really, they all gave it their all. We asked them to do their best and that they did."
The Hodags have a small roster to begin with and had nearly half of its squad unavailable for various reasons on Tuesday. That meant the five gymnasts Rhinelander had left all had to step up and fill all-around roles.
That included freshmen Sophie Miljevich and Wendy Fronk. Miljevich led Rhinelander in three of four events in her varsity debut as she finished fourth in the all-around with a 28.425. She tied for fourth on the floor exercise (7.6), was fifth on uneven bars (6.7) and sixth on vault (7.925). Fronk had a best finish of seventh on beam (6.5) as the took sixth in the all-around (25.35).
"Our two freshmen, I couldn't ask for anything more," Sturtevant said. "Not only did they start out as varsity. They started out all-around varsity."
Junior Payton Rudawski was fifth in the all-around for Rhinelander (26.85) and had the team's only other individual top-five finish as she tied for fifth on the balance beam (7.5) with a no-fall routine.
Leta Cole was seventh in the all-around (23.7) and Claire Wilberding was eighth (22.225).
"We had some really nice performances from girls that had competed before," Sturtevant said. "Leta got a personal best on vault (7.15) and beam (6.1). Payton had a beautiful no-fall routine (on beam), fell just off of her personal best from last year. That's a really great start for her as a junior coming in."
Medford's Makala Ulrich won three of the four individual events plus the all-around, with a score of 32.375. Ulrich won uneven bars (7.7), vault (8.3) and floor (8.525) while Medford's Anna Wanke and Kate Malchow tied for first on the beam (8.4).
The Hodags' first meet did come with some clerical hiccups. One of the judges was unable to attend, forcing the format of the meet to be altered. In addition, a heating issue inside the dome made it noticeably cooler inside the inflatable structure.
"We were short a judge, so we had to change the lineup at the very last minute. We had to sit longer between things, which made the night go on longer," Sturtevant said. "We were really cold by the time it came to floor and a few girls did tweak their routines to make sure they were safe. But, otherwise, we just regroup tomorrow and look toward Wednesday and look to continue to make improvements."
More than anything, Sturtevant said Tuesday's meet was about getting valuable feedback from the judges for the first time this season.
"Now we can actually regroup, see what did we really get credit for," she said. "Did we get all the bonuses that we thought we were getting?"
The Snowflake Invite has been rescheduled for this coming Wednesday, Dec. 29, with seven teams scheduled to appear. Though the meet will break up training that the Hodags typically do over the holiday break, Sturtevant said she's glad to have the event this season after being forced to cancel last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We tend to kind of take the holiday as big skill building. We'll still do a little bit of that, but I'm glad it's another home meet," she said. "It gives families, hopefully, another opportunity to come and see our girls here."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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