December 19, 2022 at 7:43 a.m.
Hodag gymnasts finish 7th in home invite
Hodag gymnasts finish 7th in home invite
Even with the extended practice time, first-year head coach Kristina Aschenbrenner said there were still some opening-meet jitters for a squad that had only four gymnasts available for the meet, three of whom were freshmen.
"Coming into this meet, our routines really weren't ready. We had some question marks," she said. "We didn't all the skills that we wanted into the routines, so we kind of had to lessen our difficulty a little bit but, for the things that they did do, the basics - the full turns on beam, staying on, getting their connections - they did a fabulous job."
The Hodags were without sophomore Wendy Fronk due to illness, leaving the team with the minimum number of gymnasts required in each event to avoid taking any zeros in the team score.
Freshman Nevaeh Anderson led the way for Rhinelander. She earned the highest score in each event on her way to a 14th-place finish in the individual all-around (28.45). Anderson's day was highlighted by a 10th-place finish on the vault (8.15). She took 18th on the balance beam (7.2) with a no-fall routine, was 22nd on floor exercise (7.5) and 23rd on uneven bars (5.6).
"Nevaeh's a very talented gymnast," Aschenbrenner said. "She's coming off injuries herself, so she's not at 100%. We're just thrilled that she was able to compete today and make it through her routines and I expect a lot more from her."
Rhinelander's two other freshmen - twin sisters Claire and Karlie Yunkers -finished 22nd and 26th on the day in the all-around. Claire Yunkers scored a 25.5 in the all-around with a best finish of 27th on beam (6.55). Karlie Yunkers had a 22.1 in the all-around with a best finish of 38th on vault (7.15).
Aschenbrenner said all three freshmen acquitted themselves well in the meet.
"They stepped up. They did their routines, had smiles on their faces and good attitudes, wanting to come back and work on things to improve for next time. You can't ask for more," she said.
The team's lone senior, Leta Cole, placed 25th in the all-around (24.3). Her best finishes were a pair of 28ths on both beam (6.45) and uneven bars (5.15). She originally was going to skip the floor exercise, but was added to the lineup due to Fronk's absence.
"I think that's going to be the new normal that someone's always going to be down. We just have to make sure that every girl is ready, even if they normally wouldn't compete an event," Aschenbrenner said. "Leta stepped up. She wasn't going to do floor today and when we found out Wendy wasn't coming yesterday, she stepped up and said, 'I'll do floor.' We were able to get a team score. That was big."
All five members of the Great Northern Conference Small division were there. All five were topped by the former ruler of the division, Medford, which won the meet with a score of 131.75 points. The Raiders moved up to the GNC Large division this year. The two teams that came in from the GNC Large -Ashland and Antigo -finished second and third.
Mosinee was fifth, followed by Lakeland and Rhinelander. The Hodags had the lowest team score in three of the four events. The lone exception was beam, where it edged out Lakeland by two-tenths of a point.
Individually, Medford's Kate Malchow (34.35) and Kyla Krause (33.875) finished 1-2 in the all-around. Ashland's Jaycee Erickson was the top GNC Small competitor in third (33.175).
Rhinelander was scheduled to travel to Ashland Monday night in the first GNC Small dual of the season. That will be Rhinelander's last competition before the winter break. The team will be back in action Jan. 5 for a triangular meet at Lakeland.
Aschenbrenner said the break would afford Rhinelander a little more time to add and perfect elements within their routines.
"Over that break it will be working on those skills that we haven't been able to put into our routines yet," she said.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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