Hodag gymnasts place fourth at Snowflake Invite

The Rhinelander High School gymnastics team came home Saturday and nearly replicated the performance it turned in at its season-opening meet.

The Hodags posted a score of 116.025 and finished fourth in the Snowflake Invitational, held at the YMCA of the Northwoods. That was less than a point off the total the Hodags had in their debut five days prior at Ashland, and still greater than any overall score the team posted last season.

“We had some things we wanted to work on. We added a couple skills today, but we still have some more skills that we want to add,” coach Kristina Aschenbrenner said. “Some of the girls were frustrated, they didn’t have enough time to get them into their routines today, but, (we) just wanted to improve on the few things from last Tuesday.”

Exchange student Margherita Tibaldeschi led the Hodags in the individual all-around, scoring a 29.0 to take 13th overall on the day. She had Rhinelander’s top score on balance beam (12th, 7.65), which coach Aschenbrenner said was a nice bounce back for her from Tuesday’s opener.

“I think she had a little bit of a mental block on beam on Tuesday. She was quite upset by her beam routine, so being able to overcome that and come back and do a good beam routine,” she said.

Freshman Emeline Hintz was 14th in the all-around with a 27.65. Sophomore Alexis Smith had the Hodags’ top individual finish on the day, taking eighth on the vault with an 8.325. She was also Rhinelander’s top finisher on the floor exercise, finishing 11th with an 8.0. Freshman Addison Fish was tops for the Hodags on the uneven bars, taking 15th with a 6.8.

    Rhinelander’s Wendy Fronk competes on balance beam during the Snowflake Invitational gymnastics meet at the YMCA of the Northwoods Saturday, Dec. 14. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

The Hodags were slightly off on balance beam and floor exercise compared to the opener, accounting for the 0.875-point difference from last Tuesday night. Uneven bars was still Rhinelander’s lowest-scoring event by a significant margin.

“Bars and beam kind of win meets for you, so those are ones that we really need to concentrate on. But floor and vault, we were consistent, so happy with that,” coach Aschenbrenner noted. “I would say we were halfway there on our floor combinations and connections. Alexis did a little better today connecting her front full, but then missed her second to last pass. So still some work to do there.”

Fish, who scored in the 30s in the all-around on Tuesday, was slated to do the all-around again on Saturday, but fell during a tumbling pass on her floor exercise routine, landing awkwardly on her upper back and neck. The routine was stopped and Fish was checked by the on-site trainer before getting up and walking off on her own power. She scratched out of the Hodags’ final event, the vault, as a precaution.

“Addison, I mean, it was a scary fall, but she actually felt like she should, so she should OK,” coach Aschenbrenner noted.

That opened the door for Tibaldeschi to compete in the all-around. She stepped in for Fish on vault, where she put up an 8.0 to finish 16th. 

“Yeah, we have that luxury. We that this year, even with, Karly (Gillingham) being out, we do have some depth. So we were able to put someone else in. She had a very strong meet today. She hit her beam, which she was looking to do, so that was great.”

Hintz also broke into the 8s on vault, taking 14th with an 8.05. 

Medford won the meet with a 130.125 while Marshfield’s Olivia Dietsche won three of the four events and claimed the individual all-around with a 34.375.

All four GNC Small schools were in attendance on Saturday, with the Hodags finishing second among that group. Ashland came home third overall with a 125.825 as it has established itself as the early-season favorite in the division. Antigo took fifth with a 109.9 and Mosinee was sixth with a 109.125.

“I think all of the teams have solid teams this year, so that’s good. It’s fun competition. And then some standouts on each team as well, so fun to watch,” coach Aschenbrenner noted.

Rhinelander is idle until Saturday, Jan. 4 when it will head to Wisconsin Rapids for a varsity/JV invitational. Coach Aschenbrenner said the next few weeks will be spent adding new skills, perfecting current ones and getting the JV roster up to speed.

“The girls are very excited to throw in some new skills. We kind of held them back a little just to make sure we could get through these first two meets,” she said. “Now it’s really going to be some skill time in the next few weeks to get ready for putting them in.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].