Hodag gymnasts open season with best score since 2012

The Rhinelander High School gymnastics team has its sights set on a Great Northern Conference Small Division title, and perhaps a run at the WIAA state tournament this season. With one meet in the books and both of those aspirations seem well within reach.

The Hodags came out of the gates strong at home Saturday, Dec. 13, posting a score of 125.65 points as they took third in the Snowflake Invitational at the YMCA of the Northwoods.

Not only was Rhinelander the top-placing GNC Small school by a large margin — finishing 8.85 points ahead of fourth-place Antigo — the Hodags’ team score was four points better than its top score from last season and the team’s best since posting a 127.15 in the Escanaba Invite back in February 2012. 

The scary part, according to Hodag coach Kristina Aschenbrenner, is that the team still has plenty of room for improvement. 

“I would say we are probably at 70%. We didn’t get quite the skills we wanted into our routines. We didn’t have the connections we wanted, but the girls were able to throw some really good routines and the scores showed it,” she said following the meet. 

While GNC Large schools Marshfield and Medford dominated the podium, the Hodags had a number of top 10 finishes and nearly had three girls score 31 or better in the individual all-around. 

Junior Emeline Hintz led that list. She garnered top 10s in three of the four events as she came home eighth in the all-around with a career-best score of 32.075 points. She tied for fifth on the day on balance beam (8.4), was seventh on the vault (8.6) and placed 10th on the floor exercise (8.175).

“Emeline is definitely an all-around gymnast, strong on all the events,” coach Aschenbrenner said. “She had some mistakes today. We have some upgrades to make. So for her to do so well, given that we’re not at 100% of where we want to be, it just shows that we have room for improvement.”

Returning all-conference recipient from last year, Alexis Smith, scored the team’s best event finish on the day, taking fourth on the vault (8.75). She added a sixth-place finish on the floor (8.475) and she wound up 10th in the all-around (30.925).

“She’s a very strong vaulter, has been her whole high school career. Very consistent and we’re still working on some additional vaults, so more to come,” coach Aschenbrenner noted.

    Rhinelander’s Karly Gillingham performs her floor exercise routine during the Snowflake Invitational gymnastics meet at the YMCA of the Northwoods Saturday, Dec. 13. Gillingham placed ninth in the all-around in her high school meet since February 2024 after missing all of last season due to a back injury. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

In between Hintz and Smith in the all-around was junior Karly Gillingham — in the lineup for the first time in nearly a year and a half after missing the entire 2024-25 high school season due to a back injury. She performed well in her high school return as she came home ninth in the all-around (31.8). She finished seventh on the beam (8.25), ninth on the floor (8.25), 13th on the vault (8.3) and led the Hodags with a 13th-place finish on uneven bars (7.0).

“She’s that needed piece that we were missing and glad to have her back and doing all around,” coach Aschenbrenner said.

The varsity lineup was fairly similar to last year. Sophomore Addison Fish finished 15th on the day in the all-around (29.45), led by a 15th-place finish on beam. Junior Sam Aschenbrenner competed in one varsity event, taking 17th on beam and freshman Marsadies Williams debuted on varsity in three events, with a best finish if 17th on bars. 

“Really proud of Marsadies coming in as a freshman and being able to hit three routines today. That was great,” coach Aschenbrenner noted.

After finishing second behind Ashland in the GNC Small last year, the Hodags established themselves as the early team to beat based on last Saturday’s performance. All five GNC Small programs were in attendance. Antigo came home with a 116.8, followed by Ashland at 110.525, Lakeland at 108.9 and Mosinee at 52.425. The Hodags are seeking their first conference title since winning the GNC Small in the 2017-18 season.

“We knew that this was coming. Go back and quote me from 5 years ago, and I said, the year that we’re gonna start hitting that point is when these girls are juniors,” coach Aschenbrenner said. “We have some great eighth graders coming up next year, and we have no seniors. So we really wanted to get up there this year and really prove (ourselves to) the small school conference.”

Marshfield, which dropped to Division 2 this year, but is not in Rhinelander’s sectional for postseason play, posted a 136.475 to win the meet by 4.075 points over Medford, which also is not in Rhinelander’s D2 sectional this year. 

Marshfield’s Jazlyn Kurth scored 9.0 or higher in three events, winning balance beam and floor, as she claimed the individual all-around with a 35.375.

The Hodags were back in action Thursday at the YMCA of the Northwoods, hosting Ashland and Lakeland in a non-conference triangular. Visit RiverNewsOnline.com for a recap of that match and read a full report in the Tuesday, Dec. 23 edition of the River News. From there the team is idle until Jan. 3 when it will head to Wisconsin Rapids for the Charlie Martin Invitational.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].