Highlight Reel: Team Gymnastics Final
March 14, 2015
By John Johnson
MHSAA communications director
The Rockford/Sparta girls gymnastics team Friday won the program’s first MHSAA title since finishing first in the Lower Peninsula in 1989.
Below are links to highlights from each apparatus, courtesy of the NFHS Network.
HOGAN TAKES ALL-AROUND HONORS – The top all-around score at the MHSAA Gymnastics Team Final was recorded by Rachel Hogan of Grand Ledge, a 38.225, and including this 9.550 in the uneven bars. Watch all of the bars action and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
MAD ABOUT MADI – Madi Myers of Rockford/Sparta led her team to the title with an all-around score of 37.825, including this 9.500 in the floor exercise. Watch all of the floor exercise action and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
KUNZ STICKS THE VAULT – Allison Kunz led Canton to a second-place finish with a 38.075 all-around score, her high being 9.725 in the vault. Watch all of the vaulting action and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
TERHORST TOPS FOR FOREST HILLS – Cassidy Terhorst of the Grand Rapids Forest Hills co-op (Central, Eastern, Northern) led the team with a 36.000 all-around score, including this team-leading 9.000 on the Balance Beam. Watch all of the Balance Beam action and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Title IX at 50: Taylor Kennedy Gymnasts Earn Fame as 1st Champions
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
September 28, 2021
The date was March 11, 1972. The host site was Hillsdale High School. A total of 276 gymnasts from 33 schools took the mat. And Taylor Kennedy earned the first Finals championship in MHSAA girls sports history.
The Eagles scored 216.35 points over the six events, edging runner-up East Lansing by 1.35. Amy Balogh was the most awarded individual for Kennedy, as she earned first places in the uneven parallel bars and balance beam and finished second on vault. The Eagles were coached by Jean Barlow, who would lead them to a repeat championship – again just ahead of runner-up East Lansing – in 1973.
A month earlier, over Feb. 17-18, the MHSAA had conducted its first girls tournament events with four Ski Regionals across the state – but this Girls Gymnastics Final was the first to award a champion from a statewide girls division. The Girls Gymnastics Final was the product of an MHSAA Girls Athletics Advisory Committee recommendation the previous October and Representative Council approval that December of 1971, and was joined during the 1972-73 school year by additional MHSAA girls state competitions in golf, tennis and track & field.
That day at Hillsdale, Balogh would finish second all-around only to East Lansing’s Merry Jo Hill – who would go on to compete at Arizona State University. Kennedy would close after the 2017-18 school year and merge with the former Taylor Truman into the present-day Taylor High School. Below are the results from that first championship meet published in the May 1972 “MHSAA Bulletin” sent to member schools.
Second Half's weekly Title IX Celebration posts are sponsored by Michigan Army National Guard.
Previous Title IX at 50 Spotlights
Sept. 21: Portage Northern Star Byington Becomes Play-by-Play Pioneer - Read
Sept. 14: Guerra/Groat Legacy Continues to Serve St. Philip Well - Read
Sept. 7: Best-Ever Conversation Must Include Leland's Glass - Read
Aug. 31: We Will Celebrate Many Who Paved the Way - Read