Team review: RHS gymnastics

Following a couple of lean years for the Rhinelander High School gymnastics program, the 2023-24 season marked what could be the start of a turnaround for the Hodags.

Rhinelander had a full lineup in every meet, something it couldn’t say the previous two years. The Hodags also posted their first dual meet victories in more than a year and finished third in the Great Northern Conference Small Division. 

To top it all off, Rhinelander was represented at the WIAA state meet for the first time since 2021 when freshman Alexis Smith made it on the vault. 

“It was a great season,” coach Kristina Aschenbrenner said. “As a team we probably topped out at conference and had a great meet there that we could celebrate together, then Alexis’s trip to state, the group that we’ve had, we’ve enjoyed our time and we’re looking forward to next year for sure.”

Much of that improvement could be traced back to a couple of key factors — a new facility and a large incoming freshman class. Those were two of the five key storylines for the team this season.

New digs

The team got a shot in the arm right away as it broke in its new, dedicated workout area inside the YMCA of the Northwoods. For the first time, the team had a legitimate place to call home where it would not need to set up and tear down equipment multiple times a year. 

What’s more, the facility has gymnastics-specific features which should help the team improve —namely a foam-filled diving pit that allows the gymnasts to practice more difficult aerial skills and dismounts in a safer manner. 

Those pieces of equipment, in concert with a with a set of uneven bars designed to go over the pit, have already started to pay dividends this year in what has been consistently Rhinelander’s lowest-scoring event. 

“Having a high bar, first of all, all year round and then being able to have multiple bars in the gym and now, with the addition of our pit bar, we’re just going to be able to see our bar scores go up,” coach Aschenbrenner said. “We’re going to be able to continue to grow, not just this year but future years.”

The Hodags were able to officially christen the new facility in December when they hosted the annual Snowflake Invite, and welcomed the entire GNC to their new home in February at the conference meet.  

New faces

    In this Feb. 17, 2024 file photo, Rhinelander’s Karly Gillingham performs her floor exercise routine during the GNC Small meet at the YMCA of the Northwoods. Gillingham posted the team’s top individual all-around score of the season (30.025) at the meet and had the team’s best score on the floor exercise on eight separate occasions during the year. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

The other big change came with the makeup of the roster for the Hodags. Of the eight gymnasts the team had this year, six of them were freshmen and a number of them made an immediate impact. 

Sam Aschenbrenner, Alexis Smith and Karly Gillingham immediately stepped in as all-around competitors for Rhinelander. Arieanna Crossman, Lexi Skubal and Emma Tagalos filled in occasionally on varsity events. 

The trio of Aschenbrenner, Gillingham and Smith led the way much of the year. Aschenbrenner led the Hodags in the all-around in six of their 12 meets this season. Gillingham had the best all-around score four times, and had the highest all-around total of the season, a 30.025 at the GNC meet. Smith led the team on two occasions.

Sam Aschenbrenner was strongest on uneven bars and balance beam. She had the team’s highest score on bars in 10 meets, and the top score on beak in seven meets. Smith excelled on vault, posting the team’s top score in 11 of 12 meets while Gillingham shined on floor exercise where she had the team’s top score on eight occasions. 

Though the team struggled a bit at sectionals, finishing roughly nine points off of its season high, coach Aschenbrenner said all the youth will bode well for the future of the program. 

“None of the girls have been in this environment. This was a first for them. Just to be able to go through and get that experience (was valuable),” she said following sectionals. “There weren’t very many freshmen on the rosters for the teams that were at sectionals today. That just shows that we have a young team and have some good opportunities ahead.”

Conference highlight

The Hodags showed their potential near the end of the season at the Great Northern Conference meet, as they posted a score of 113.3 points — the team’s best total since the end of the 2020-21 season.

In that meet Smith finished as the conference runner-up on the vault, Gillingham took fourth on the floor exercise, fifth on the balance beam and sixth in the all-around, and Sam Aschenbrenner took fourth on the balance beam.

“We started off really strong and really exciting with four no-fall beam routines,” coach Aschenbrenner said. “The girls really hit their routines. That was a great start to a really good day overall. We had some high-difficulty skills in there.”

Smith at state

The season culminated for Rhinelander with its first appearance at the WIAA individual state meet since Lilli Bishop qualified in 2021. 

Smith took a circuitous route to get to Wisconsin Rapids, finish sixth at sectionals on the vault. Though it originally appeared her score of 8.375 would wind up 0.025 points short of the top five and a berth to the state meet, she got in as an alternate after one of the top five finishes was unable to compete at state due to a pre-planned family trip.

Smith finished 24th in the event at state with a 7.983. She was Rhinelander’s first state qualifier on vault since Brittany Terzinski in 2007 and the first Hodag gymnastic to compete on vault at state since Elle Spiegelhoff did as an all-around competitor in 2012.

“She threw a very nice, consistent vault. We’re not going to see the scores we did during the season because, at state, the ante’s up there a lot higher, a lot of harder vaults being thrown,” coach Aschenbrenner said. “She performed a great vault, like she has all season, very consistent. The lower score is just based on the fact you’re at state and you’re with the best of the best.”

What’s next

The good news for Rhinelander is that virtually everyone is due back next year. The team’s lone loss will be exchange student Lena Timphus, who made a handful of spot starts in individual events this year. 

The Hodags are due to have all four of their normal all-around competitors back in Sam Aschenbrenner, Gillingham and Smith as well as senior-to-be Wendy Fronk. 

“This was a learning year, a building year,” coach Aschenbrenner said. “We got some great experience. We got to see what conference looked like, we got to see what sectionals looked like and see what state looks like. It’s great to be able to come into next year having the experience that we got this year.” 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].