Team Preview: RHS gymnastics

Tomorrow will be a big day for the Rhinelander High School gymnastics program. Not only will several gymnasts make their high school debuts, the Hodags will get a chance to showcase their new facility — one they hope will pay dividends for the future of the program.

Rhinelander welcomes seven other teams tomorrow for the Snowflake Invitational at the team’s new home, the YMCA of the Northwoods. The event comes after roughly five weeks of practice for the team as got accustomed to its new digs and prepared a roster that consists mainly of freshmen. 

To that end, coach Kristina Aschenbrenner said tomorrow will be a learning experience on a number of levels.

“The first meet is just to really get out there and see how things go and, from there, be able to set goals for improving,” she said. “Get out there, get that first one under your belt, get that experience and we can start building from there.”

The Hodags have been plagued by injuries and low numbers the last couple of seasons. They were unable to field a full lineup for sectionals each of the last two years.

Rhinelander finished last year with only three gymnasts — two of whom are no longer with the program. Leta Cole graduated and Leighann Hoople is not listed on the team roster this year. That leaves junior Wendy Fronk as the elder statesperson of the program. 

Fronk was Rhinelander’s top finisher at sectionals in the all-around last year with a score of 25.75 points and was the team’s top performer on balance beam, vault and floor exercise. 

“She’s very consistent in what she does,” coach Aschenbrenner said. “She’s a good example of identifying just little things like, ‘I didn’t like how that routine went, so this week I’m going to focus on making that improvement.’ That’s exactly what you want in a gymnast — someone who can identify what needs to be done and work hard to fix it for the next time.”

Given that up to five gymnasts compete — and four score — in each event, one returning gymnast would leave the Hodags in a serious numbers crunch if not for the sizable freshman group that will be asked to contribute right away. 

“Our whole freshman group, it’s a bunch of great girls and some who have been doing gymnastics through middle school,” coach Aschenbrenner said. “Other have been since they’re little. They’re very familiar with gymnastics in Rhinelander. They have a good, strong base in gymnastics and, honestly, what was holding them back was just gym time and the equipment that we had. Now we should really see some movement going forward.”

Of the freshmen, coach Aschenbrenner said Karly Gillingham, Alexis Smith and Sam Aschenbrenner, will likely be in the mix as all-arounders for team Arianna Grossman specializes on balance beam and uneven bars, Alexis Skubal excels on floor exercise and vault and Emma Tagalos specializes on the floor. 

“Most of them can meet the difficulty requirements for those events and I think do well,” coach Aschenbrenner said. “Then we have a couple more freshmen that might have an event here or there they specialize in … We never know who might step up.”

Foreign exchange student Lena Timphus rounds out the squad. 

While this year still may be a rebuilding season for the team, coach Aschenbrenner said. She’s hopeful it marks the start of better days for the program where the team can again go toe-to-toe with some of the top teams in the area.

“The common denominator is they have year-round facilities and feeder programs,” she said. “That’s where we’re going to be able to step up and start building our program.”

The new facility at the Y gives the Hodags training opportunities they have not had in the past. The program furthered its relationship with the Y by bringing on Mike Knudsen, a personal trainer at the Y, has joined on in an assistant coaching role, specializing in strength and conditioning.

“We’re going to have a dedicated person that’s able to work with them to really keep them healthy and to improve their fitness for gymnastics,” coach Aschenbrenner said. “Every gymnast has a different, unique strength level, body composition, so it’s really nice that we’re going to be able to customize for each individual gymnast. It’s not a cookie-cutter approach to what they need to be doing.”

The team will likely have a better indication of where it currently sits in the GNC Small Division after tomorrow. All five programs will be taking part in the meet.

Ashland and Antigo still figure to be the teams to beat in the GNC Small. Though Medford is in its second year as a member of the GNC Large, the Raiders are still in the Hodags’ sectional and figure to be a favorite to advance to state as a team. 

Those three teams will likely make it difficult to push on past the sectional round — as the top five individuals in each event qualify for the state meet. But coach Aschenbrenner said all it takes is one great routine at the right time to give a gymnast a chance to move on.

“Each girl has the opportunity, if they hit their routine to qualify for state, I truly believe that,” she said. “Maybe not in every event, but every girl has that one routine in that one event.”

Saturday’s opener is one of four home meets for the Hodags this year. Rhinelander will host Ashland in a GNC Small dual Dec. 19 and then play host to Mosinee Feb. 6 prior to hosting the Great Northern Conference meet Feb. 17. Coach Aschenbrenner said that’s a date the team already has circled on its calendar. 

“We’re excited to host the conference meet,” she said. “We’ve kind of built the girls up to say, ‘Yeah, this is our chance to really shine on our home turf and really be able to show everyone that Rhinelander’s an up and coming program.’”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at jeremy@rivernewsonline.com.

Date    Event    Time

12/9    SNOWFLAKE INVITATIONAL    10 a.m.

12/19    ASHLAND*    5:45 p.m.

1/4    at Ashland, Lakeland    5:45 p.m.

1/6    Wis. Rapids Invite    10 a.m.

1/16    at Antigo*    5:45 p.m.

1/27    Antigo Invite    10 a.m.

1/30    at Lakeland*    5:45 p.m.

2/3    Marshfield Invite    10 a.m.

2/6    MOSINEE*    5:45 p.m.

2/10    Ashland Invite    10 a.m.

2/17    GNC MEET at RHINELANDER*    10 a.m.

2/23    WIAA Sectionals at Antigo    TBD

* Conference Meets | HOME MEETS IN CAPS