Coldwater Meet Provides Decade of Support
February 5, 2020
By Wes Morgan
Special for Second Half
Coldwater High School gymnastics coach Kim Nichols and the many athletes that have been a part of the program over the last decade will probably never fully fathom the impact they’ve had and continue to have on their community.
The scoreboard says it’s been a $79,000 (and counting) contribution to the local fight against cancer. What can’t be calculated are the intangible byproducts of the donations, such as the smiles on patients’ faces as they enjoy more comfortable spaces in which to undergo treatment, or even the social lessons learned by the student-athletes interacting with the business world for the first time.
This Saturday marks 10 years since the Cardinals started the “Stick It For A Cure” charity event, a day full of top-notch competition, fundraising and fun designed to support local folks fighting all types of cancer.
Nichols and her team were honored last year with a regional and national Junior Philanthropic award by Promedica. Nichols was named 2018-19 Coach of the Year by the Michigan High School Coaches Association and was a candidate for a sectional award from the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Coaches Association.
All proceeds from “Stick It For A Cure” raised to date have gone to Coldwater’s local oncology center.
“We really start planning as soon as gymnastics season begins right around October,” Nichols explained. “We start making plans and organizing things. In December we meet once a week with some parent volunteers that want to be on the committee to help. We had a chili supper that we hosted in early December as kind of our kickoff for the event and start (to) the fundraising. The girls served chili and cleaned tables. We did Krispy Kreme donut sales, and the girls delivered them.
“The big push is getting the girls to go out into the community and canvas the local businesses for donations. We parents organize a lot of it, but I want them to be in the front and involved so they learn how to talk to other adults, how to be responsible, respectful and learning about volunteering and giving back. Oftentimes, they see a direct impact that they have on people. It’s a really good experience. They do a lot. I keep them very busy.”
All of that is in concert with growing a successful gymnastics program.
Participants in arguably the toughest Regional in the state, the Cardinals are still working towards their first appearance as a team at the MHSAA Finals. However, most recently, Leah Goodwin placed 13 overall at the 2019 Division 1 Individual Finals. Layla Schoch was 22nd. More than 20 individuals have qualified for the Finals under Nichols. Kylie Dudek was the Division 1 Finals champion on the uneven bars in 2013, when she also finished all-around runner-up.
Coldwater set a school record for team total points (136.675) last season. The Cardinals have qualified as a team for Regional competition this winter, scheduled for March 7 at Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills.
Nichols points to the support of the school district and local businesses that has helped the gymnastics team flourish.
“I can take some pride in building this program,” Nichols said, “but a big part of it is having gym space, gym time. We started from the classic ‘drag your equipment out of the closet, use half of the court for two hours’ and it would take us 30-45 minutes to set up and 30-45 minutes to tear it down. We’ve been able to get some generous donations from folks in the community that have supported us, and the athletic department has kept us going. We have full equipment now. It’s really cool.”
They’ve more than paid it forward, with at least $12,000 in donations expected from this year’s campaign.
“Everybody knows somebody affected by cancer,” Nichols said. Many Cardinals gymnasts over the years have had family members affected by cancer, including sophomore McKenna Hantz, whose mother, Mindy, was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago, is in remission and volunteers for the annual event. Nichols’ grandmother passed away from stomach cancer 10 years ago when they were trying to get the event off the ground.
“I think the community really enjoys it,” McKenna Hantz said. “It’s good to be known as helping the community out and the people who need it. It’s scary, and it’s hard to deal with. These patients get more stuff and money to help them out.”
“I’m amazed that our little team can put that much together from our little community,” Nichols said.
10th Annual Stick It For A Cure
What: Gymnastics Invitational for Cancer Awareness
Where: Coldwater High School"
When: Saturday, Feb. 8; Doors open at 8 a.m.
How it helps: Devoted to cancer awareness, the fundraising event supports the Promedica Coldwater Regional Hospital of Branch County. Activities include a gymnastics meet, donation raffle, silent auction, food and games.
Wes Morgan has reported for the Kalamazoo Gazette, ESPN and ESPNChicago.com, 247Sports and Blue & Gold Illustrated over the last 12 years and is the publisher of JoeInsider.com. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Members of the Coldwater gymnastics team hold up ribbons representing awareness for various forms of cancer. (Middle) The event includes the gymnastics meet, donation raffle, silent auction, food and games. (Photos courtesy of the Coldwater gymnastics program.)
Standout Sidelined, Rams Finish Repeat
March 11, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
ROCKFORD – "Should have" wouldn’t have been the accurate phrase.
But losing senior Madi Myers to an ankle injury during its second rotation easily "could have" doomed Rockford/Sparta’s hopes of repeating as MHSAA gymnastics champion Friday night.
As two among a handful of the absolute elite high school gymnasts in Michigan, Myers and senior Morgan Korf led a talented and deep Rams team to last season’s title and this winter on a mostly unstoppable run that looked like it could suddenly end when Myers fell during a vault. The tumble re-injured her right ankle and ended her meet, reducing her to a moral supporter resting in a wheelchair the rest of the evening.
But Myers turned down overtures to leave immediately for a checkup at the hospital. And her teammates didn’t leave her behind.
After a brief team meeting in the school cafeteria followed by some singing and dancing to perhaps calm their nerves, Rockford/Sparta’s remaining gymnasts finished the meet with the highest balance beam score of the day and enough points to earn a second straight MHSAA team championship on their home floor.
“(We said) this can’t break us. We have to come together and be stronger as a team. You can’t let something like that ruin this day. We still have an amazing chance to do very well, (and) we did,” recalled Korf, the reigning Division 1 champion who will aim to repeat at Saturday's Individual Finals. “Our team has so much depth. We just had to all come together and do our best, and do it for the team, not for any one individual.
“I just wished she was up there with us, but I’m glad she was there supporting us still. We wanted to start and finish it with her.”
Rockford/Sparta ended with a score of 146.350 in a competitive Final that saw seven teams post at least 140 points – nearly twice as many teams as did so last season and the most since eight broke 140 in 2012. Grand Rapids Forest Hills was runner-up, posting its best finish ever with a score of 145.100, and Farmington was a close third at 144.000.
Myers – who finished ninth all-around in Division 1 last season and just ahead of Korf at their Regional last week – contributed plenty while she could. Her 9.250 on vault (before her injury) tied junior Nicole Coughlin for the team high, and her 9.475 on floor was the Rams’ best score.
But her absence for the third rotation, bars, combined with another fall by the team during that round, led the Rams to use an 8.175 to fill out their score on the event – and that overall 34.950 for the apparatus put them in danger of falling behind the other contenders.
As soon as that rotation ended, Rockford/Sparta headed into an adjoining hallway. Every gymnast took a turn talking, pepping up each other while putting that performance quickly in the past.
“Our team is so strong, and they have each others' backs every minute of every day. As soon as Madi got injured … they rallied each other and said no matter what happens, we’re not going to be defeated,” Rams first-year coach Alyssa Burke said. “It wasn’t exactly the way we planned for our day to go, but it was great. I was nervous that they were going to get down. That’s only normal when you lose one of your teammates, and they’re all so close. But they are fighters, and they have been since day one.”
With Farmington’s meet done after the 11th rotation, Forest Hills and Rockford/Sparta had one last chance to stay at the top in the 12th – Forest Hills finishing on vault and Rockford/Sparta on beam. Forest Hills shined – its 36.650 was the second-highest vault score of the day. But the Rams dominated the beam – junior Carly Coughlin scored a 9.600, while Korf came through with a 9.425, Nicole Coughlin with a 9.400 and senior Ally Case with a 9.200. Those top three scores were the second, third and fourth-highest of the entire day on that apparatus.
“I was so proud of them, I couldn’t hardly contain myself in the wheelchair. I was cheering so hard for them,” Myers said. “I just told them (before) to have no doubt in their minds, to have a kind of confidence that they’ve never had before. Just fight for every little thing, because we knew coming into it that’s what it was going to come down to, those tenths of a point.”
Despite finishing fewer than two off the pace, Forest Hills couldn’t have been happier with its runner-up finish. The team defeated Rockford/Sparta in a dual early this season, then finished second to the Rams at the Regional – but with the third-highest Regional score statewide.
In addition to posting its highest Finals place, Forest Hills also set a program record with its overall score Friday.
“It feels like first place to us,” coach Lindsay Orgeck said. “Rockford is a strong, amazing team that we get the chance to compete against more regularly than other people. So we knew they were strong. Our goal was top three, and second place feels like first.
"Our senior leaders are amazing. They set the tone for practice day one and just really have taken all the freshmen, the newbies, under their wing, and set a good example for what it looks like, what it feels like.”
Senior Christine Byam led Forest Hills with a score of 37.225, the fourth-highest all-around of Friday’s Final, and seniors Cassidy Terhorst and Hannah Esterman shined with scores of 36.275 and 36.150, respectively.
Nicole Coughlin led Rockford/Sparta with an all-around of 37.275, the third-highest of the event. Korf scored 36.750 as they were the only Rams to compete on all four apparatus – eight gymnasts total competed for the winning team.
Grand Ledge senior Rachel Hogan had the highest all-around score of 38.300. Grosse Pointe United junior Isabelle Nguyen was second with a 37.425, and Brighton senior Margo Makjian rounded out the top five also breaking 37 with a 37.200.
PHOTOS: (Top) Rockford/Sparta's Morgan Korf (left) hugs injured teammate Madi Myers after completing her beam routine Friday. (Middle) Twins Nicole and Carly Coughlin posted two of the Rams' top three scores on beam to help them secure the team title. (Below) Forest Hills senior Cassidy Terhorst performs her floor exercise routine.