LFLF Gymnastics Turns Rivals Into Teammates, Friends
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
March 16, 2021
When members of the Linden/Fenton/Lake Fenton gymnastics team come together, new friendships are formed, and school rivalries are put to the side.
Well, mostly.
“Lauren (Hayden) is actually on the Fenton soccer team,” Linden senior Apryl Smith said. “My friends are on the Linden girls soccer team, so when I’m at the game, I’m cheering for both. But I tell her, ‘Linden is going to beat you.’”
It’s all in good fun for the LFLF teammates, as the three schools have been competing together for seven years all under the direction of Nancy Holden, who runs the local youth program, Gymstars Gymnastics, and started the high school co-op team.
This year’s team features nine gymnasts, with six from Linden (Smith, Reygan Acox, Kynleigh Copeland, Grace Cross, Eva Lau and Avery Miller), two from Fenton (Hayden and Maty Temrowski) and one from Lake Fenton (Natasha Duden). It carries the Linden name, as that’s the school that originally had the largest contingent and helped Holden launch the program.
“When they were younger, their competitions were more about themselves and their own placements and ribbons,” said Holden, who competed for Hartland High School. “Now that it’s a high school team, it’s a team event. Even though they’re individuals, it’s still a team event, so doing well for your team is kind of the goal. We’re getting ready for Regionals (Saturday at Grand Ledge), and we’re just trying to go in there as a team and do well as a team. We want to keep the girls focused on that, because if they do well for the team, they’ll do well for themselves.”
Smith and Hayden – the only seniors on this year’s team – are both appreciative of the opportunity to compete at the high school level, even if they’ve never really thought it wouldn’t be an option for them.
“I think it started out when I was young enough to not even realize that it had started,” Hayden said.
If that appreciation ever were to fade, the LFLF gymnasts don’t have to look far for someone who didn’t have their same opportunity. Katie Holden, Nancy’s daughter and assistant coach, graduated from Fenton in 2011, before her mother had started the high school team.
“I’m living through them a little bit,” Katie said with a laugh. “But (coaching the team is) very rewarding.”
While Katie couldn’t compete as a high schooler, she did start her coaching career with the Gymstars while she was at Fenton, and has been doing so for more than a decade. She’s been an assistant with LFLF for the past three years.
The mother-daughter team meshes well with one another.
“We get along 99 percent of the time, so it’s really great,” Katie said. “I think we balance each other perfectly, especially age-wise. I can connect with the girls, then my mom’s there to lay down the law. It’s a really nice dynamic. I got to watch growing up how she taught, and what helped me get through my years of gymnastics. I’m a personal trainer, as well, so I have more of that conditioning aspect that I can bring to the team.”
Katie handles the team’s choreography on the floor and balance beam, while Nancy brings nearly 30 years of experience coaching gymnastics.
“I think we are a great team together,” Nancy said. “With her youth, she can connect with the girls really well. She’s got that great, fun, young personality, so the girls really like her and they can relate to her. She has that youthful dance expertise, and I think together, we make a great team.”
Perhaps as important as the way the Holdens complement one another, is the fact they’ve been working with most of the LFLF team members since they were young gymnasts.
“I think it’s helpful because if I was going into a new gym, I think I would have been a little wary,” said Hayden, who joined Gymstars 15 years ago. “Knowing them for years, then going to the next level already knowing them, I could be myself and progress as a gymnast without having to worry about showing them what I can do.”
Hayden has thrived in high school competition, winning a Division 2 Regional all-around and balance beam title in 2019. Smith was third in that year’s Regional, as Linden qualified for the MHSAA Finals as a team. While there were no 2020 Finals because of COVID-19, Smith was a Regional runner-up.
That experience helps build confidence for Saturday’s Regional, and also allows them to assist their younger teammates as they enter the postseason.
“I think it helps stress-wise,” Smith said. “We all get super stressed out because you get one chance and it’s make or break. It’s not like throughout the season I did good, so I get to go to states. It’s not like that. It gives me a little more reassurance that I have the skill to get there, and I just have to perform well. As someone in a leadership role, I try to tell them to focus on the skill rather than being at Regionals.”
There’s some optimism within the program that another trip to the Finals is possible.
“We’ve had a great team this year,” Nancy Holden said. “We have really nice team dynamics, and everybody's having fun and getting along, which is sometimes a challenge when you have three different schools coming together. We are hoping that we can be one of the top three teams (in the region) so we can make it to states as a team. That’s always the goal, but it doesn’t mean that it will happen on that day. We just have to make sure we hit our routines. We’re looking forward to that opportunity.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Students from three schools form together the Linden/Fenton/Lake Fenton girls gymnastics team again this season. (Middle) LFLF’s Apryl Smith performs her routine on the balance beam. (Below) Katie Holden, left, and Nancy Holden form a daughter/mother coaching team. (Photos courtesy of Nancy Holden.)
Performance: GP United's Isabelle Nguyen
February 27, 2017
Isabelle Nguyen
Grosse Pointe North senior – Gymnastics
After taking fifth, second and second, respectively, in the MHSAA Finals Division 1 competition her first three years of competition, Grosse Pointe United’s Nguyen faced high expectations heading into her final season of high school gymnastics – and has met them all. Nguyen scored an all-around 37.975 to win Division 1 at the Great Lakes League Championships on Feb. 18 and earn the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week” for Feb. 13-19, and she’s won all of her invitationals this season, including the prestigious Canton event that yearly draws the top competition from all over the state.
Nguyen won on all four apparatuses at the league meet, and also posted a 37.150 all-around Wednesday against Canton. She holds every record for Grosse Pointe United, and next will lead her team into the Regional on Saturday at Walled Lake Central. Like many gymnasts, Nguyen also dives – she qualified for the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals in the fall and just missed making the final round of competition. She also will return for her third season of lacrosse this spring after sitting out last season with an injury.
Injuries also will keep Nguyen from pursuing college gymnastics, but she’s got other goals set. She will attend Wayne State University and study computer technology after cultivating an interest in coding during a technology class she took as a junior at North. She carries a 3.5 grade-point average and also is interested in coaching when her competing days are done – which likely will be in two weeks, and potentially after she celebrates a Division 1 all-around title.
Coach Kristin Remillet said: “Watching her success over the past four years has been such a fun experience for me as a coach. It’s great to see a deserving, hardworking young lady like Izzy get the recognition she deserves each and every meet. As an individual competitor, she is peaking this season, her senior year, and has won the all-around title in every single invitational she has competed in this season. … She’s a great all-around gymnast who is a standout competitor in every event. That’s really Izzy’s strength; she is so well-rounded across all four apparatuses, it makes her tough to beat in the all-around competition. … Every time Izzy competes for our team in a large-scale meet, I’m impressed with her focus and her ability to shine in times of pressure. Another of Izzy’s strengths that I’m very impressed with is her ability to lead others in our gym. She’s not just a phenomenal athlete, she is also a great teammate and friend. Whether you have been on the team with her for two years, or two weeks, she makes so many teammates feel comfortable, welcomed, and loves to help them improve as well.”
Performance Point: “Most of my (league) performance, I was pretty happy with; on beam, I haven’t been landing my skills lately, so I was pretty scared about that, but on bar I was pretty satisfied (because) I almost had a fall but I was able to save it,” Nguyen said. “Overall, I was really proud of myself. … I still want (to win MHSAA Finals). It still makes me want to work hard seeing how close other girls were to me. I’m still pushing myself in practice, getting ready for Regionals and states. I’ve just been trying to work on hitting everything.”
Taking flight: “My favorite (apparatus) is uneven bars. I feel like I’m just more free. I feel like I’m flying. When I first started learning it, just started giants, I started liking it all. It’s not something I’m scared of; on beam I’m more scared of doing stuff than on bars.”
Sport for every season: “It’s mostly keeping me in shape. Diving is the flipping; I just like flipping a lot. In lacrosse, I like to meet new people too who like other sports, and (I like) the running. I’m kinda a fan of running.”
More than tough enough: “Last year, the week of states, I hurt my knee. I have extra bones in my feet, and I just hurt my ankle. … I’d say (gymnasts) are pretty tough. A lot of people don’t think we’re strong. It’s because they think we’re small; they think we’re weak. It’s really not (true). I love gymnastics. I just wanted to keep doing it. I knew I had to take breaks and everything, but it’s something I really like.”
Call me Coach (next year): “Right now I coach little kids, just for fun, but my (high school) coach is planning to have me coach next year if I can. I like seeing new girls like the sport that I like, and it makes me happy helping everyone so they can get better.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2016-17 school year, Second Half and the Michigan National Guard will recognize a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Previous 2016-17 honorees:
Feb. 16: Dakota Hurbis, Saline swimming & diving – Read
Feb. 2: Foster Loyer, Clarkston basketball – Read
Jan. 26: Nick Jenkins, Detroit Catholic Central wrestling – Read
Jan. 19: Eileene Naniseni, Mancelona basketball – Read
Jan. 12: Rory Anderson, Calumet hockey – Read
Dec. 15: Demetri Martin, Big Rapids basketball – Read
Dec. 1: Rodney Hall, Detroit Cass Tech football – Read
Nov. 24: Ally Cummings, Novi volleyball – Read
Nov. 17: Chloe Idoni, Fenton volleyball – Read
Nov. 10: Adelyn Ackley, Hart cross country – Read
Nov. 3: Casey Kirkbride, Mattawan soccer – Read
Oct. 27: Colton Yesney, Negaunee cross country – Read
Oct. 20: Varun Shanker, Midland Dow tennis – Read
Oct. 13: Anne Forsyth, Ann Arbor Pioneer cross country – Read
Oct. 6: Shuaib Aljabaly, Coldwater cross country – Read
Sept. 29: Taylor Seaman, Brighton swimming & diving – Read
Sept. 22: Maggie Farrell, Battle Creek Lakeview cross country – Read
Sept. 15: Franki Strefling, Buchanan volleyball – Read
Sept. 8: Noah Jacobs, Corunna cross country – Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Grosse Pointe United's Isabelle Nguyen competes on uneven parallel bars this season. (Middle) Nguyen performs on balance beam at last season's MHSAA Finals. (Photos courtesy of Grosse Pointe United gymnastics.)