Team preview: RHS Gymnastics

Following a few lean years, the 2024-25 season promises to be a step forward for the Rhinelander High School Gymnastics team. That progression can already be seen in the team’s roster, which has nearly tripled in size from a year ago.

The Hodags made some improvement last year, led by a group of talented freshmen as they placed third in the GNC Small Division, sixth at sectionals and sent a gymnast to the WIAA state meet for the first time in three years. 

The Hodags are eager for even more this year as the competition schedule gets underway tonight in a dual meet at reigning GNC Small champion Ashland. 

“All of them have great attitudes, working hard. We’re doing fun things, new skills every day,” coach Kristina Aschenbrenner said.

Rhinelander returns virtually all of its squad from last year, with the only loss being exchange student Lena Timphus. 

The Hodags have one returning senior in Wendy Fronk, but the bulk of the returners come from a sophomore class that stood out last year. 

    In this Feb. 23, 2024 file photo, Rhinelander’s Karly Gillingham performs her floor exercise routine during a WIAA Division 2 gymnastics sectional meet in Antigo. Gillingham took fourth on the floor exercise, fifth on the balance beam and sixth in the all-around last year at conference for the Hodags and is one of seven returning gymnasts for the team. (Brett LaBore/Lakeland Times)
  

Alexis Smith is back after qualifying for state on vault. She’s also the defending runner-up in the GNC Small in that event. Karly Gillingham took fourth on the floor exercise, fifth on the balance beam and sixth in the all-around last year at conference and Sam Aschenbrenner took fourth on the balance beam. All three had meets where they were the Hodags’ top scorer in the all-around.

“I know these girls worked hard with the Y program this summer. I’m pretty confident in them being ready to compete,” coach Aschenbrenner said. “Wendy had a new acro skill you don’t see a lot. We have Sammy maxing out her bonuses on her jumps and dismount and of course Karly as an all-around gymnasts could hit on any event. Alexis is working on some new vaults.” 

Coach Aschenbrenner noted that Gillingham is working through an injury that could leave her status for at least the first couple of meets of the season up in the air. Sophomore Arieanna Crossman, Lexi Skubal and Emma Tagalos round out the list of returning gymnasts. 

Joining that group are 13 new gymnasts, a number of whom come in with previous experience. The Hodags welcome in four freshmen, of those Addison Fish, Vayda Ives and Adalynn Strobel had experience on the middle school squad. 

Beyond that, the team welcomes in nine others with varying gymnastics backgrounds.

“A lot of them did the YMCA program when they were younger and then, when they were in middle school, stepped away and now are coming back,” coach Aschenbrenner said.

Among the new face to keep an eye on are exchange student Margherita Tibaldeschi, who Aschenbrenner said comes in with prior experience, and senior Brynn Teter who has returned to the sport after skiing for several years. 

“Brynn, who’s walking in as a senior, has already been strong on bars and vault. I wouldn’t be surprised if we can get her in on a varsity rotation at one of the meets,” coach Aschenbrenner noted.

All of that added depth gives the Hodags an interesting, but good, conundrum in terms of the lineup. Typically, last season the Hodags would have Gillingham, Smith, Sam Aschenbrenner and Fronk compete as all-arounds with a mix of girls filling the fifth spot in each event. 

That may not necessarily be the case this season. Given all the depth the squad has, it may allow some of the gymnasts to focus on the events where they are the stronger.

“I guess I’m very impressed with the attitudes the girls have had. They’ve said, ‘Hey, I’d really like to work on my beam and be very strong on beam,’ or, ‘Hey, I’d really like to work on my bars,’” coach Aschenbrenner said. “They’re willing to do the other events too, but they understand that there are people, their teammates, that are stronger on some events.”

Conference dual meets will be important for the Hodags’ development as, in addition to the five varsity spots, the team will be able to field JV entries. Coach Aschenbrenner said that will be key, especially for the development of the underclassmen. 

“We’re asking them to try to challenge themselves in some of the other events,” she said. “Especially being a freshman or a sophomore, we’ve got time. They could be doing varsity in all of the events down the road.” 

As for the GNC Small, the division is down to four teams this year with Lakeland pausing its program due to low numbers. Ashland is the returning champion, and qualified for state as a team last year, but graduated a number of starters off that squad. Both Antigo and Mosinee return the majority of their squads from last year, meaning there could be plenty of parity within the GNC Small this season.

“I know Ashland has a couple of new freshmen. That will be interesting to see,” she said. “They’re our first dual meet. It will be interesting to see how we stack up to them, but I think we would have definitely been competitive with Lakeland. We’ll definitely be competitive with Antigo and Ashland, and we’d be competitive against Mosinee. For conference small teams, we’d have a good chance if we can stay healthy.”

Tonight’s dual will be followed by the annual Snowflake Invitational, hosted by the Hodags this coming Saturday at the YMCA of the Northwoods. All four GNC Small schools will be in attendance, along with Medford and Marshfield from the GNC Large division. Those are the only two meets the Hodags have in December, and coach Aschenbrenner said the competitions will be good opportunities to see where her squad is at early in the year. 

“It will just be, let’s get a baseline and see what adjustments we need to make,” she said. “There’s a new rulebook this year, so it will be interesting to see what new skills and combinations are getting credit and scoring well. We might have to make some adjustments there.”

With Lakeland bowing out, the Hodags have only one other home meet this year, a GNC Small dual Jan. 21 against Antigo. Stevens Point will host the GNC meet of Feb. 22. 

Sectionals will take place the following week and will look much different than in years past for the Hodags, who typically saw all of the GNC Small plus Medford in their grouping. Medford has graduated to Division 1 due to the WIAA performance factor while Antigo and Mosinee will compete in different sectionals. Ashland is the only GNC team in its sectional as Rhinelander was put in the northwest grouping with Bloomer/Colfax, the Grantsburg co-op, Menomonie, Rice Lake and River Falls. The site and date for that meet have not yet been announced by the WIAA.

Between Ashland and the Big Rivers Conference schools in the field, coach Aschenbrenner conceded placing in the top two and making it to state as a team may be difficult, but the goal is to try to get someone in the top five an individual event or the all-around to make a return trip to Wisconsin Rapids for the state meet in early March. 

“As a team, it’s going to be very hard to crack the top two spots, but do we have individuals that could step up on any given day and crack one of the top five slots? For sure,” she said. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected]. 

TEAM SCHEDULE

Date    Opponent/Event    Time

12/10    at Ashland*    5:45 p.m.

12/14    SNOWFLAKE INVITE    10 a.m.

1/4    Wisconsin Rapids Invite    10 a.m.

1/21    ANTIGO*    5:45 p.m.

2/1    Antigo Invite    10 a.m.

2/8    Marshfield Invite    10 a.m.

2/11    at Mosinee*    5:45 p.m.

2/15    Ashland Invite    10 a.m.

2/22    GNC Meet at Stevens Point*    10 a.m.

TBA    WIAA Sectionals at TBD    TBA

* Conference meets | HOME MEETS IN CAPS