No More Just-Misses; Hogan's the Champ
March 12, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
ROCKFORD – One by one, teammates hugged Rachel Hogan, while her coach Duane Haring placed medals around the necks of the other placers and worked to keep himself together.
Before this weekend, nine Grand Ledge gymnasts had combined to win 13 all-around MHSAA Finals championships. A few won multiple titles, and one finished first in both Division 2 and Division 1.
Hogan's path was different and all her own, a mix of just-misses and domination leading to her becoming the Comets' next winner.
She finished 10th in Division 1 as a freshman, a point off the lead, then improved to second as a sophomore, finishing only a tenth of a point behind the champion. Hogan fell back to third last season, but just 0.375 points back.
Saturday’s performance included a fall on balance beam and a ninth place on floor exercise. But it also included first places on vault and uneven bars – Hogan’s sixth and seventh Finals event championships over her four seasons – and this time she rose to the top of the podium at the end of the day as well, with an all-round score of 38.000 to win Division 1 by five hundredths of a point.
“For my senior year, I really just wanted to do the best I could,” Hogan said. “It’s my last year, and I know that, so I want to just put it all out there and give it all I’ve got. So I guess there was a little more of a drive, a little more of a want to get it.
“I really hope every girl here leaves feeling that they did their best. I feel that way too; that’s a great feeling.”
Hogan’s individual titles over the last four seasons included three on vault and two each on floor and bars. She tied the Division 1 Finals record with a 9.800 floor exercise as a freshman in 2013, but needed one more record performance to claim her all-around championship.
The growing cheers with every attempt told the entire Rockford gym that Hogan was shining on vault Saturday. And her final attempt earned a score of 9.875, five hundredths of a point better than Grand Ledge’s Alexis Byington scored to set the previous record in 2010.
Hogan earlier had won bars with a 9.700.
“She’s just a class act all the way around,” Grand Ledge coach Duane Haring said. “She’s always been determined, but she’s so nice (that) when she first started, she didn’t want to beat anybody else. Because she felt bad. Over the years I said, ‘It’s OK. They’re trying to beat you. You’re still friends. It’s called sports. It’s competition. You need to try to beat them.’
“So then, she started to get a little more aggressive, and said, ‘Yeah, maybe I do want to see if I can be on top.’”
Grosse Pointe United junior Isabelle Nguyen seems to be following a similar path as this year's champion.
Nguyen was runner-up to Rockford/Sparta’s Morgan Korf last season, finishing only 0.075 of a point behind. Her second-place score of 37.950 on Saturday was only 0.050 off the lead.
Nguyen also had the second-highest all-around of Friday’s Team Final, behind only Hogan, and Saturday finished second on bars and beam and fifth on floor.
“I’m pumped. I want to get new skills and work harder this summer,” Nguyen said. “I’m still happy I stayed second the whole time. (On) bars, even though she beat me by 0.025, I was still happy with my score (9.675). And beam, yesterday at Team (Finals) I fell, and I wanted to stay on beam today, and I had a good save today.”
Hogan and Nguyen’s respective finishes were especially impressive given the loaded field in Division 1. Korf finished fifth this time after helping the Rams to the team title Friday, and junior teammate Nicole Coughlin – the leading all-around scorer for Rockford/Sparta on Friday – improved three spots from last season’s Individual Finals to tie for third with Brighton senior Margo Mekjian. Coughlin won beam with a 9.650, and Mekjian won floor with a 9.600.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills senior Cassidy Terhorst, the Division 2 champion the last two seasons, came in seventh in Division 1 this time, one spot behind junior teammate Christine Byam.
Livonia Blue senior Brianna Rhoad also ended her career on top at these Finals, winning Division 2 after finishing sixth as a junior, 15th as a sophomore and seventh as a freshman.
Rhoad’s all-around score of 36.525 placed her three tenths of a point ahead of Farmington sophomore Elisa Bills. Rhoad didn’t finish first on any apparatus, but was at least eighth on all four.
“I was nervous, but after I had a pretty good beam and floor I thought I could finish it off well,” Rhoad said. “I think last year I just had a rough meet, so I think I had a better meet this year.”
Howell claimed two event championships in Division 2 – junior Alyssa Walker won beam with a 9.475 and junior Kacy Wolfram won vault with a 9.700. Rhoads’ teammate junior Jessica Weak won bars with a 9.025, and Haslett/Williamston/Bath senior Brooke Allen won floor with a 9.375.
PHOTOS: (Top) Rachel Hogan, center, stands atop the podium Saturday as the Division 1 all-around placers are honored. (Middle) Grosse Pointe United’s Isabelle Nguyen performs her beam routine. (Below) Livonia Blue’s Brianna Rhoad hugs coach Lisa Broomfield. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
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.