Finals Preview: To Catch a Comet
March 7, 2013
The most hopeful of MHSAA gymnastics teams have been forced to chase Grand Ledge for more than five seasons.
But of any Finals weekend during the Comets' half-decade run of perfection, this could be the one other teams make their strongest push to catch up.
Grand Ledge has won five straight team titles, six straight Division 1 and two straight Division 2 individual championships. But at least one of those streaks looks possible to end this weekend at Plymouth High School.
Team Finals are Friday beginning at 2 p.m., with Individual Finals at noon Saturday – with both divisions running concurrently this year instead of at separate times as in years past.
Click for a complete list of qualifiers, Regional results and this weekend’s rotation schedules, and see below for teams and individuals who should make a run at the top.
Team contenders
Canton: The Chiefs definitely made Grand Ledge a little nervous last season on the way to finishing runner-up for the second straight, this time with a score of 148.575. And they no doubt are still on the Comets’ minds after nearly ending Grand Ledge’s five-year event winning streak by leading their Canton Invitational with one round left Feb. 2 – before the Comets moved ahead at the end. The Chiefs won their Regional with a score of 145.95, more than five points better than the field, and placed the top four Division 1 individual finishers at that event. Jocelyn Moraw, Maddie Toal, Melissa Green and Nicole Lasecki all posted scores of at least 35.650, and Erica Lucas was second in Division 2 with a score of 35.875.
Farmington: The Falcons similarly dominated their Regional, winning by nearly four points with a score of 142.95, and should climb after taking fifth at last season’s MHSAA Final. Farmington also posted an impressive home invitational win on Jan. 19, edging Canton by nine tenths of a point for that title. Farmington has one Division 1 all-around qualifier this weekend, freshman Carina Wright, plus placed four of the top five in Division 2 at that Regional.
Grand Ledge: The dynasty continues to rise. The Comets haven’t lost or finished second at an event since coming in as runner-up at the 2007 MHSAA Final – a stretch including five title wins and nearly 100 events total over the last five seasons. Grand Ledge won the Rockford Regional with a score of 149.325, 5.8 points more than the field and tops of all Regionals this season. Senior Sara Peltier and freshman Rachel Hogan both made the Division 1 individual all-around Saturday, while senior Lauren Clark and junior Presley Allison took the top two spots in Division 2 at the Regional.
Division 1
Kylie Dudek, Coldwater senior: After finishing fifth in Division 1 last season with a score of 37.550, Dudek should push for the top three after coming in third at Rockford with a score of 37.350. She won vault at the Regional with a score of 9.8.
Ashley Hextall, Pinckney senior: Hextall won the Mason Regional all-around with a score of 36.950 that included wins on bars (9.125) and floor (9.575). She finished sixth at the Division 2 Final last season with a score of 36.425.
Jocelyn Moraw, Canton sophomore: One of a strong group of Chiefs, Moraw won her Regional with a score of 37.150 that included a win on bars (9.2). She placed eighth in Division 1 last season with a score of 36.900 after finishing among the top nine on three apparatuses and the top 14 on all four.
Madi Myers, Rockford/Sparta freshman: She took last week’s Regionals by storm, beating the Grand Ledge contenders with a score of 38.925 – the best in any Regional this season. She finished first on beam (9.775), bars (9.85) and floor (9.7) and might be the gymnast to beat Saturday.
Sara Peltier, Grand Ledge senior: The Comets annually find a new standout to top the lineup, and Peltier took over this season for graduated Division 1 champ Christine Wilson. Peltier won the Division 2 championship last season with a score of 37.275, and finished second to Myers at the Rockford Regional with a score of 37.575 despite only an 8.8 on beam.
Abbey Robb, Birmingham senior: She could push into the mix after finishing second at the Troy Athens Regional with an all-around score of 37.15. She won vault that day with a 9.5.
Christina Shabet, Troy junior: She also is a favorite this season after finishing seventh in 2012 with a score of 36.975. Shabet won her Regional with a 38.375, 1.2 better than the rest of the competition, and with first places on beam (9.5), floor (9.825) and bars (9.7).
Division 2
Emma Abessinio, Grosse Pointe United senior: She competed in the Division 2 Final in two events last season, but should push for a strong all-around finish this weekend. She won her Regional with a score of 36.625, which included wins on floor (9.55), beam (9.275) and bars (8.9).
Presley Allison, Grand Ledge junior: She’s due to finish first soon after placing third both of her first two high school seasons. She was second to teammate Lauren Clark at the Rockford Regional with a score of 37.575 and won bars (9.45) and beam (9.675).
Lauren Clark, Grand Ledge senior: She should be the Division 2 individual favorite after finishing runner-up by five hundredths of a point last season with a score of 37.225. She won her Regional last week with a score of 37.800 and with first places on vault (9.6) and floor (9.5).
Marie Clark, Troy Athens/Auburn Hills Avondale sophomore: Top-five finishes in three events led to a Regional championship last weekend. Clark scored 35.500 in the win.
Erica Lucas, Canton junior: Last season’s Division 2 MHSAA vault champion won that event again at last week’s Regional with a score of 9.35. But she also finished second all-around at the Regional with a score of 35.875, and should contend for that title this weekend.
Andrea Merlotti, Salem senior: She should move up quite a bit after finishing 21st in the Division 2 all-around at last season’s Finals with a score of 33.625. She finished third at her Regional with a 35.800, with top-four finishes on three apparatuses.
Karry Modolo, Freeland senior: She won the Mason Regional by nearly a point with a score of 36.200, with wins on beam (9.3) and vault (9.2). She finished 19th at the MHSAA Final last season with a score of 34.050.
PHOTO: Pinckney senior Ashley Hextall competes during last season's MHSAA Division 2 Final. She'll move up to Division 1 this weekend. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
To Coach, no Surprise: Rockford's Korf Rises
March 14, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
ROCKFORD – Allison Tran saw glimpses in January that her soft-spoken junior was on the verge of competing with the elite high school gymnasts in Michigan.
Minutes after winning this season’s Division 1 championship Saturday, Rockford/Sparta’s Morgan Korf was almost convinced her coach was right.
What Tran saw early came to fruition at the MHSAA Individual Finals as Korf – a day after helping the Rams to their first team title since 1989 – posted an all-around score of 37.825 to improve from 18th last season and finish not only first, but ahead of four top-10 placers from a year ago.
“There’s just so many good gymnasts in this state. I don’t believe it’s me,” Korf said. “Watching the last event, a couple people fell. But I still didn’t believe it.
“I’m just too much in my head. (At the start of the season) I’m just like, ‘Nah, it’s not going to be me. There are so many people who are way better. I just went out there and did the gymnastics I’ve done all year.”
Korf didn’t finish first on any one apparatus, but never placed lower than sixth. She took third on uneven parallel bars (9.500) and tied for third on balance beam (9.375), tied for fifth on floor exercise (9.550) and sixth on vault (9.400).
Admittedly, Korf didn’t have the greatest 2014 meet; she had finished 11th in Division 1 as a freshman in 2013.
But she also took steps this winter to join the contenders – eliminating errors that previously led to slight deductions and adding more difficult skills that allowed her to score a few tenths of a point more.
Korf also took an anchor role during team competitions as the go-to scorer, especially during meets when junior Madi Myers – who finished ninth Saturday and had the team’s top score Friday – wasn’t available because of injuries. Performing in those pressure situations no doubt paid off for Korf on Saturday.
“The thing with Morgan, her nerves always got in her way last year and the year before. She’s grown a lot,” Tran said.
“She just never thought she was going to be there. We saw it for her.”
Only 75 hundredths of a point back was Grosse Pointe United sophomore Isabelle Nguyen, who improved from fifth all-around last season and finished second on bars (9.700) en route to a 37.750 score.
She knew she was in the championship mix, and consistency played a big part – Nguyen and Korf were the only Division 1 competitors to score at least 9.300 on every apparatus.
Nguyen improved more than half a point after scoring 37.125 at the 2014 Finals. And this season's finish should provide nice momentum for another run in 2015.
“I’ll get there. … Practice more, work harder,” Nguyen said. “Last year I was just a freshman, so everything was new to me.”
Korf and Nguyen were followed in the all-around by Grand Ledge junior Rachel Hogan (37.450) – last season’s runner-up – Grosse Pointe United senior and Isabelle’s sister Maria Nguyen (37.225) and then Canton senior Allison Kunz and Rockford sophomore Nicole Coughlin in a tie for fifth at 37.200.
Hogan finished first on vault at 9.800 and floor at 9.700, while Kunz won bars at 9.750 and Jackson Lumen Christi senior Mary Grace Fries won beam at 9.500 and finished seventh all-around at 37.050. Wilson’s vault score tied for second-highest in the event in MHSAA Finals history.
While the race in Division 1 featured a number of contenders, Grand Rapids Forest Hills junior Cassidy Terhorst was the favorite all season for Division 2 after winning that competition last season by 15 hundredths of a point.
Her margin of victory was a little larger Saturday, as Terhorst edged Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills/Grandville/West Catholic senior Kelley Momber by six tenths of a point, scoring 36.650 all-around.
Terhorst won Division 2 vault (9.375) and bars (9.200), was ninth on beam (8.800) and tied for third on floor (9.275). Momber had beaten Terhorst at the Regional, and she improved from 12th at least year’s Finals and won the beam (9.225).
“I definitely felt a lot more pressure because last year I was kinda under the radar,” said Terhorst, who will compete in Division 1 as a senior. “There’s a lot more competition this year. There’s a lot of really good gymnasts who were out with injuries last year, and they came back really strong. So I knew I had to work really hard to keep up with them.”
Forest Hills junior Ellie Siebert won floor with a score of 9.400.
Click for full Division 1 results and Division 2 results.
PHOTOS: (Top) Rockford/Sparta junior Morgan Korf finishes her competition on the beam Saturday en route to winning the Division 1 title. (Middle) Forest Hills junior Cassidy Terhorst was part of the final rotation on beam and went on to win the Division 2 title for the second straight season. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)