Finals Preview: Grand Ledge Seeks 7
March 6, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Arguably the most impressive current winning streak in any MHSAA sport will be on the line Friday at Plymouth High School.
The Grand Ledge gymnastics team has won more than 100 straight events – duals and invitationals – and will compete for a seventh straight MHSAA Finals team championship.
The reigning Division 1 and 2 individual champions also will be back for Saturday’s competition – and this time both compete in Division 1.
Team Finals are Friday beginning at 2 p.m., with Individual Finals at noon Saturday. Click for a complete list of qualifiers, Regional results and this weekend’s rotation schedules, and see below for some of the teams and individuals who could make a run at the top.
Team contenders
Grand Ledge – At this point, the championship is Grand Ledge’s to lose. Grand Ledge’s 145.050 was the second-highest Regional score in the state, and five of last season’s top seven gymnasts should make the Comets a contender again – even if numerically they may not be the favorite this time.
Canton – After three straight runner-up finishes, Canton could finally end Grand Ledge’s winning streak featuring a number of top athletes who have gained plenty of experience the last few seasons. Canton’s 147.650 was the highest Regional score in the state last week, and the Chiefs also won their invite – generally the most prestigious event of the regular season – in February.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills – With three Division 1 contributors and a host of veterans, Forest Hills looks good to move up from last season’s sixth-place finish. Its 144.075 to finish second at the Regional indicates the potential to push into the top three.
Farmington – The state’s power program before Grand Ledge and runner-up to the Comets in 2010 and 2008, Farmington is back in the mix after finishing third at last season’s Final. The 144.575 score to win the Regional was the third highest in the state last week.
Division 1
Presley Allison, Grand Ledge senior – Last year’s Division 2 individual champion is a contender again after moving up a level. She won vault and beam at her Regional and finished second only to teammate Rachel Hogan with an all-around score of 37.975.
Paige Blythe, Howell senior – Tied for first at the Kensington Lakes Activities Association meet with a score of 36.875 and finished runner-up at her Regional after taking 13th at last season’s Division 1 Final.
Melissa Green, Canton senior – Last season’s fourth-place finisher in Division 1 at the MHSAA Final, she won a tough Regional last week with a score of 37.550 while finishing first on floor and vault.
Rachel Hogan, Grand Ledge sophomore – Contributed on last season’s team champion despite being a freshman. She also finished 10th in the Division 1 individual standings and won the championship on floor. She won her Regional last weekend in 38.100.
Morgan Korf, Rockford/Sparta sophomore – Finished 11th in the Division 1 all-around as a freshman and took third at her Regional with a score of 36.025, finishing just behind the pair of Grand Ledge standouts.
Jocelyn Moraw, Canton junior – Won the Division 1 Final on beam in 2013 and is an all-around contender as well after placing fifth last season. Moraw finished second to teammate Green at the Regional with a score of 37.475.
Christina Shabet, Troy senior – The reigning Division 1 individual champion pulled off an all-around effort last season with places of second, fifth, tied for seventh and 12th on the four apparatuses. She distanced herself at last weekend’s Regional with a 38.525 score to win.
Carina Wright, Farmington sophomore – The only one who hung with Shabet at their Regional, Wright finished second with 37 points. She hung with Shabet at last season’s Final as well, finishing a close third, only .325 points back of the champion.
Division 2
Lauren DeHaan, Lowell junior – Finished second at her Regional with a score of 35.350 after competing on beam and vault at the 2013 Division 2 Final.
Hailey Hodgson, Canton sophomore – Tied teammate Erica Lucas for the Regional championship with an all-around score of 35.825; she placed second on two apparatuses, tied for fourth and finished fifth on the other two.
Meredith Jonik, Farmington senior – Last season’s fourth-place finisher in Division 2 is one of the favorites again. She won her Regional with a score of 36.400, placing first on bars.
Erica Lucas, Canton senior – Won the Division 2 vault championship the last two seasons and might be the all-around favorite. She tied for first at her Regional with Hodgson with a score of 35.825 after finishing ninth all-around at last season’s Final.
Julia Mastracci, Troy Athens/Avondale – Finished runner-up to Jonik at their Regional with an all-around score of 35.800. She was eighth at last season’s Final and should push for a top-five finish this time.
Brianna Rhoad, Livonia Blue – Finished seventh at last season’s Division 2 Final. She took an impressive third behind the Canton pair at their Regional with a score of 35.700.
Cassidy Terhorst, Grand Rapids Forest Hills sophomore – Finished first at her Regional with a score of 36.500 after taking first places on three apparatuses.
PHOTO: Grand Ledge poses with its championship trophy after winning its Regional last week. (Photo courtesy of Greg Long).
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.)