January 9, 2023 at 8:05 a.m.
Hodag gymnasts compete at Lakeland, Wis. Rapids
Hodag gymnasts compete at Lakeland, Wis. Rapids
The two and a half weeks between competitions was not as fruitful as the Hodags would have hoped. A number of practices were nixed during that span due to inclement weather, there were breaks for the holiday and the injury bug struck an already thin lineup.
Karlie Yunkers suffered a hand injury at practice this past week that head coach Kristina Aschenbrenner said will keep the freshman out of the lineup for the foreseeable future.
"It's been up and down and we haven't had a full team," Aschenbrenner said of the last couple of weeks.
The Hodags finished just one tenth of a point behind Lakeland to take third place in a GNC crossover triangular meet Thursday in Minocqua.
Marshfield from the GNC Large won the event with 119.325 points. Lakeland edged Rhinelander 97.6-97.5 for the runner-up spot. Fellow GNC Small school Ashland was scheduled to participate, but was unable to make it after classes in Ashland were called Thursday due to inclement weather.
"We're happy. We have things we want to keep working on, but it was a good showing tonight," Aschenbrenner said. "We started on beam, had a couple of falls, but made our mounts, made some improvements in some areas, so that was great. Bars, we had really nice, clean routines on bars. Floor went well, making those little improvements. Then vault was our last event and we did really good on vault. Everyone hit some really nice vaults, just beautiful form, stuck landings, really nice vaults. We ended on a good note for the evening."
Rhinelander outscored Lakeland in three of the four events, but could not make up a more than 2 1/2-point deficit on uneven bars in the final outcome.
Freshman Nevaeh Anderson led the way for Rhinelander once again, finishing fourth in the all-around with a score of 27.15. She led the Hodags in all four events, including a third-place showing on floor exercise (7.3) and a fourth-place finish on balance beam (6.8).
Leta Cole (24.1) was eighth in the all-around for Rhinelander, including a sixth-place finish on the balance beam. Wendy Fronk (23.85) was ninth in the all-around, including a tie for eighth on the floor exercise. Claire Yunkers (22.4) placed 10th in the all-around, highlighted by eighth-place finishes on floor exercise and vault.
"Wendy Fronk had four great routines and looked really strong," Aschenbrenner noted. "Nevaeh was consistent through the whole thing as well, again. That was great. Leta had a great bar routine and a great vault tonight. Nice to see her do well."
Wis. Rapids Invite
The Hodags were down to only three competitors on Saturday as they took eighth in the Wisconsin Rapids Invite. Anderson was unavailable for the meet due to a prior commitment.
As a result, the Hodag managed only a 67.675 in the all-around.
Claire Yunkers (25.05) edged Fronk (25.025) in the all-around, with the two finishing 20th and 21st, respectively. Fronk had Rhinelander's best individual finish on the day, a 22nd on vault (7.55).
Cole, who competed in only three events on Saturday, placed highest for the Hodags on both balance beam (31st, 6.55) and uneven bars (35th, 4.3). Yunkers led the way for Rhinelander on the floor exercise (29th, 7.175).
"Wisconsin Rapids had some ups and downs," Aschenbrenner noted. "We hit our vaults again, Wendy and Claire had strong bars performances. Our beam had a number of falls, but they still hit a number of skills we have been working on. Leta re-sprained her ankle during floor warmup and had to scratch. Wendy threw a new floor pass and Claire hit her routine."
The Hodags have a lull in their schedule this week. The team returns to action Tuesday, Jan. 17 in a GNC Small dual meet against Antigo in the Hodag Dome.
"It will be nice to have a little bit of a break to practice. We've had meet, meet and then everything's canceled (because of weather) and the holiday, and then you have another meet right away," she said. "So it will be nice to get back to practice for a week and start fixing some of these issues and adding some more skills."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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