RHS gymnasts set sights on GNC Small title

The Rhinelander High School gymnastics team it on the verge of winning its first Great Northern Conference Small division title in eight years as it prepares for Saturday’s conference tournament at Lakeland.

The Hodags have the lead in the conference standings following an undefeated dual meet portion of the schedule, and have the luxury of knowing a finish of second or better on Saturday will give the Hodags the outright conference title. 

The Hodags have that cushion, and a three-point lead in the standings after a 116.9-all tie between Antigo and Lakeland on Tuesday in a battle for second place in the division. 

It’s not a slam dunk for the Hodags. Both of those teams could play spoiler in the Hodags’ chance to win the Small Division portion of Saturday’s meet, but Rhinelander has the best season average of those in the GNC Small and is finally getting a bit healthier after a bout with injuries and illness. 

“We feel good,” Hodag coach Kristina Aschenbrenner said after the Hodags placed fifth, and were the top-finishing GNC Small team, at the Valentine’s Invite in Ashland on Feb. 14. “We just want to be able to go and put our routines together and feel good about each one of our routines. I think if we can just go and do that, even with a couple mistakes here and there, I think we’ll be able to come out on top.”

Teams are awarded two points per conference dual victory and there’s a difference of two-points per position on Saturday, with the winner of the conference meet earning 10 points, second place earning eight points and so on.

Lakeland scored a 116.425 in Ashland to edge Antigo for sixth in that invite, which made the battle for the runner-up spot more interesting heading into Tuesday’s rematch.

“Lakeland had a really good meet. The girls looked really good. It’ll be interesting to, to see what happens. We’ll definitely be watching on Tuesday to see, see what the results of that is,” coach Aschenbrenner said.

In addition to the team accolades, the Hodags will be battling for all-conference honors in the individual events and the all-around. 

    Rhinelander’s Alexis Smith performs her floor exercise routine during a GNC Small dual meet against Lakeland in Minocqua Thursday, Feb. 5. Smith has the third-best average score in the GNC Small on floor exercise and the second-best average on vault entering Saturday’s conference meet in Minocqua. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

While Ashland has been unable to field a full lineup the last few meets, Leanna Lipske remains the favorite in the all-around as her average score this season of 33.21 points in a point and a half better than the next best in the GNC Small —Rhinelander’s Emeline Hintz (31.71). Lipske has the division’s top average score on balance beam (8.68) and floor exercise (8.39). Lindsey Beck of Antigo has the top average on uneven bars (7.51), thousandths of a point ahead of Lipske. Lakeland’s Malin Awker comes in with the top average score on vault (8.55).

The top three finishers in each event and the all-around will earn all-conference honors.

Going into the meet, Hintz has the second-highest average in the division on balance beam (7.95) and floor exercise (8.39) and is fourth on both uneven bars (7.02) and vault (8.35). Alexis Smith has the second-best average on vault (8.44) and is third on the floor (8.21). Addison Fish has the fifth-best average in the all-around (29.99), is fifth on bars and sixth on both floor exercise and vault. 

The conference meet gets underway at 10 a.m. Saturday at Lakeland Union High School in Minocqua. 

Valentine’s Invite

The Hodags enter Saturday’s conference meet off a solid performance in the Ashland Invite on Feb. 14. 

Rhinelander’s team score was back in the 120s at a 120.95 — which was nearly 4 1/2 points ahead of sixth-place Lakeland. The Hodags recovered from a shaky start on balance beam, where their total of 27.5 was eighth in the nine-team field. Rhinelander was third as a team on floor exercise and uneven bars, and fourth on the vault. 

“We started on beam and it wasn’t the best, but the girls were able to rally,” coach Aschenbrenner said. “We had four 8s that we counted for our team score on floor and four 8s that we counted on vault. You can’t really ask for much more than that.”

Hintz paced Rhinelander in three of the four events and was tops in the all-around, coming home 13th overall with a 31.025. She was one of three Hodags in the 30s in the all-around. Freshman Marsadies Williams was 14th (30.7) and Fish was 15th (30.325).

“That’s great to see, and each girl, there’s still room for improvement,” coach Aschenbrenner said. “Marsadies had an uncharacteristic fall on bars. Emeline had two falls on beam today, which is uncharacteristic. So, definitely still have room to improve.

“Emeline switched around her floor passes and was able to get rid of that fall that she had the last couple meets. Addison was very strong, throwing her new skill that she threw for the first time on (Feb. 12 versus Mosinee).” 

Hintz had seventh-place finishes for Rhinelander on floor exercise (8.6) and vault (8.5) and was 17th on the bars (7.025). Williams led the Hodags on balance beam, taking 15th (7.65) and Smith tied with Hintz for seventh on vault (8.5). Smith was 21st in the all-around Saturday (28.85) as she worked her way back from an illness that forced her to miss a GNC dual against Mosinee Feb. 12.

“Alexis came back, but she watered down some of her routines, just because she hasn’t practiced much in the last week and then we still had some JV who stepped up to do varsity today.”

In terms of recent form going into the GNC meet, Lipske was fifth overall in the all-around for Ashland in the meet (33.1) and scored top-10 finishes on bars and balance beam. Awker had a career day for Lakeland, taking fourth on vault (8.75) and sixth on beam (8.4) as she finished seventh in the all-around (32.775).

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].