Hodag gymnasts face tough task in loaded sectional

By the numbers, the Rhinelander High School gymnastics team has improved from last year, exceeding its best score from last year by more than eight points. Despite that, the Hodags face a major uphill climb tomorrow as they look to qualify someone for the WIAA state meet for a second year in a row.

That’s because the field in tomorrow’s Division 2 sectional meet in Ashland is significantly deeper than last year, when five of the eight teams in the field were from the GNC Small Division. 

This time around, the only other GNC Small team present will be the hosts, Ashland, which won the GNC Small title last Saturday with an all-around score of 128.65 points. 

This year’s draw features three teams from the Big Rivers Conference (River Falls, Rice Lake, Menomonie). Bloomer/Colfax and Grantsburg are also in the field. Individually, there are a number of heavy hitters who will vie for the individual state qualifying spots. 

The top two teams from Saturday’s sectional will qualify for the team portion of the WIAA state meet next Friday in Wisconsin Rapids. The individual competition takes place next Saturday and the top five gymnasts (and ties) in each event and the all-around will earn a trip to state. 

Based on season data from gymnastics database ScoreFlippers, the Hodags are likely to face a tough battle.

Rhinelander comes in with the sixth highest team average in the seven-team field with a 119.733. That’s far behind Big Rivers’ powers River Falls (138.317) and Rice Lake (136.725), who are the favorites to advance. Ashland (128.867) is third and five of the seven teams have average scores in the 120s. 

Because of that, Hodag coach Kristina Aschenbrenner said there isn’t much pressure on the Hodags, who come in off a season-high score of 121.65 at conference last Saturday. 

“We don’t have control over the scores with the other girls present, so if we can hit our team goals to the best of our ability, I think everyone’s going to be thrilled,” she said.

Though freshman Emeline Hintz posted a season-best 31.4 in the all-around last Saturday, she and her fellow Hodag teammates are deep longshots to qualify via that route. Seven gymnasts in the field on Saturday have average all-around scores of 33.1 or greater, led by Ruby Amundson of River Falls (35.848) and Avery Ash of Rice Lake (35.683). Ash, a senior, is the defending D2 state champion in the all-around (36.166) and set a D2 state meet record on balance beam last year (9.5833). Freshman Addison Fish (29.7) is Rhinelander’s top gymnasts in the all-around as her average score of 29.7 ranks 19th in the field. 

Sophomore Alexis Smith qualified for the Hodags on vault last year, making it in as an alternate after one of the top five finishers from sectionals was forced to withdraw. Repeating could be a challenge as she comes in with the 12th-best average in that event (8.413), and the top five all have average scores of 8.89 or higher. Smith also has Rhinelander’s best average on the floor (7.997), but that ranks 16th in the field while Ashland’s Kaia Werner holds down the fifth spot with an 8.732 average. 

Balance beam could be an equalizer because of the half-point dedication that comes with each fall. Senior Wendy Fronk has the Hodags’ best average scored there (20th, 7.6), but a no-fall routine in the low 8s could have an outside chance of making the top five, if some of the top gymnasts struggle. Currently Menomonie’s Isabella Whitwam holds the fifth-best average at 8.45.

Rhinelander is improving on uneven bars, as evidenced by three gymnasts scoring in the 7s at conference last Saturday, but it may take something in the 8s to advance in that event. Ash has the fifth-best average in the sectional at 8.033. Fish holds the best average for Rhinelander in 21st (6.639).

“Rice Lake’s a phenomenal team,” coach Aschenbrenner said. “They will definitely have some stars. I mean, the defending beam state record holder is on the Rice Lake team. They’ve got some strong athletes there but we have a number of girls that could place. We just need to hit our routines like we’ve been working on and we should be good.”

The sectional meet gets underway at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Ashland High School fieldhouse. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].