
No Question, Farmington #1 for 2018-19
March 8, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
ROCKFORD – Chasing last season’s MHSAA gymnastics championship may have been a bit more exciting for Farmington United.
But repeating at Friday night’s Team Final put the finishing touch on a dominating run that left no doubt which was the state’s best again this winter.
Compared to 2018, when Farmington ended Rockford’s three-season hold on the title and the top three teams were separated by three tenths of a point, this finish was a bit more comfortable.
Farmington – which won all of its meets this season – clinched the title this time with a score of 145.550, 1.3 points better than the runner-up Rams.
“It was actually more fun this year because we didn’t feel (like) as much of an underdog,” Farmington senior Kacey Noseworthy said. “We were coming in here confident, and we could believe it. But there was more pressure knowing that we kinda were expected to win.”
Farmington United – made up of gymnasts from Farmington High, North Farmington and Farmington Hills Harrison – posted the Final’s highest scores in the vault (37.700), the second highest on floor exercise (37.575), tied for the second-highest on balance beam (35.500) and then third highest on uneven parallel bars (34.775). After Rockford/Sparta, the next closest team was more than three points off the lead.
The margin was slimmer after Farmington finished its second rotation of the afternoon. But vault provided an opportunity to make a move – and longtime coach Jeff Dwyer’s gymnasts let their best fly.
Junior Elena Vargo threw a vault with a max score of 10.0, and she scored 9.80. Sophomore Sydney Schultz went with a vault she learned just two weeks ago with a max of 9.80, and she posted a 9.50.
“Vault is kinda a wild card. It’s one you sometimes hit and sometimes don’t,” said senior Ava Farquhar, who posted a 9.050 on the apparatus. “It’s hard, depending on the situation, the gym and the equipment. Going in, we all just tried our best. Warm-ups turned out pretty well, so we got a little excited.”
Vargo, a favorite in Saturday’s Division 1 individual competition, finished with the Team Final’s highest all-around score, 37.825. Noseworthy, a likely contender in Division 2, posted an all-around 35.775. Farquhar, Schultz, senior Shelby Smith, sophomore Allison Schultz and freshman Kamini Playle also contributed at least one score. Four of those seven also contributed to the winning team score in 2018.
“You’ve gotta have a pretty unique group of girls who can do it two years in a row,” Dwyer said. “And you can sense that, how they compete and how they work out in the gym. So I knew we had a shot again this year. But these (Finals) are hard to win.”
Plymouth followed Rockford/Sparta in third place, an improvement of three places from a year ago. First-time Finals qualifier Fowlerville finished fourth, and Livonia Blue edged Northville to round out the top five.
Reigning Division 1 individual champion Cate Gagnier of Grosse Pointe United, a sophomore, scored an all-around 36.400, as did Rockford/Sparta senior Reagan Ammon. Rams junior Morgan Case scored a 36.350, and Livonia Blue sophomore Makenna Fedrigo posted a 36.300 all-around.
Rockford/Sparta did post then highest scores on bars (35.075), beam (36.025) and floor (37.600) but only the seventh-highest on vault (35.550), 2.15 off Farmington's score on that apparatus.
“Farmington’s been like steady beating us the whole year, so we kinda thought we would get second with maybe a tiny chance at first,” said Case, a contributor on the 2017 championship team and last year’s runner-up as well. “But we’re really happy with what we did.”
The Individual Finals in both divisions begin at noon Saturday, and in addition to the championship Farmington United also might have won Dwyer his first good night’s sleep in a few days.
He said he hadn’t slept for three nights heading into Friday’s competition. But his gymnasts stepped up to the pressure of being the favorites with a perfect season on the line, taking the pressure off with an opportunity to sweep the individual titles up next.
“I think it just shows a testament, one, to our coaches; and two, to the family that we’ve made,” Farquhar said. “This sport is about making friendship, and your team really is a big part of it because it’s so mental. And I think our team put together a great team this year.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Farmington United gymnasts celebrate repeating as MHSAA Finals champions Friday. (Middle) Farmington teammates watch as Elena Vargo performs her bars routine. (Below) Rockford's Reagan Ammon takes her turn on floor.

Schrauben Finds Way Back to Gymnastics, Follows Path to Top of Finals Podium
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
March 14, 2025
The last thing Sydnee Schrauben enjoys is time on her hands.
During her previous breaks between fall field hockey and spring lacrosse, the Rockford senior had opted to throw herself into the school’s musical theatre program and appeared in productions such as "Shrek the Musical" and "Mamma Mia."
But this winter, when the Rockford senior found herself with little to do between those sports, Schrauben decided to reevaluate a return to gymnastics, which she had dabbled in growing up but eventually gave up prior to entering high school.
She and close friend Ava Ezell opted to come out for the Rams team.
"I've never been one to not do something," Schrauben explained.
While Schrauben is accomplished enough athletically to land a lacrosse scholarship to Coker University in Huntsville, S.C., next season and an excellent field hockey player as well, she had modest expectations for gymnastics. After all, she hadn't participated since eighth grade when the mental and physical demands of the sport became too great.
Her thinking was that gymnastics would keep her close to friends, fulfill her competitive drive for a few months and generally just give her something to do after school. But accomplishing something as grand as winning a state title? No chance, Schrauben said.
She was wrong.
Schrauben placed among the top five in two events while winning the MHSAA Division 2 all-around championship last weekend at Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills.
It's a story that includes more than simply brushing aside long odds to win a championship. Schrauben hadn’t been around a balance beam or attempted a floor exercise for three years and enjoyed phenomenal success.
"I was very, very shocked," she said. "I was top-five in all-around in a couple meets, but after winning (the Final) I cried. It was a very surreal moment. Everyone has a dream (of) being awesome, but you never really think it's gonna happen to you."
Schrauben said she improved her scores as the season progressed and had a goal of scoring a 36 in all-around in her final meet. She actually bettered that by a fraction despite, she admitted, surviving a couple missteps.
Schrauben had to overcome not even placing among the top 36 in floor and finishing 25th in vault. That was done by winning beam (9.6) and taking fourth on bars (8.7). Her overall score of 36.025 in all-around outdistanced Rams teammates Kate Tracey (35.9) and Lillian Green (35.85), who finished second and third, respectively.
"I wanted a 36 in all-around and (to) hit all my routines, but that didn't happen,” Schrauben said. “But things worked out fine. I just told myself not to worry and go out and do the things I've done all year."
Not only did Schrauben have to shake off years’ worth of cobwebs to win, she also overcame a midseason ankle injury that put her foot in a boot for six weeks. But in a strange way, the injury may have benefitted her as she was able to step back from the sport and take a deep breath.
"I definitely fell behind, and when you stop training that's going to bring down your scores, but at the same time it gave me time to perfect working on bars and beam," she said.
"Bars and beam are my best events. I just wanted to have a solid meet and bump up my all-around score, and they helped me immensely."
Rockford coach Michelle Ankney said Schrauben's Finals title can best be described as the culmination of possessing athleticism, mental toughness, an ability to focus on what's at hand and a unique competitive drive.
"It's a combination of all the above," Ankney said. "She's a fantastic athlete, competitively very driven, has a mental talent and is fearless. She's doing this, and I just stared at her. I said, 'I can't believe she's doing this.'"
Winning was an amazing achievement, and a direct result of Schrauben attempting to harness something she's always recognized deep within herself.
"I get bored easily," she said. "I wanted to do something, whether it was a job or another sport or whatever. But then I found I kind of missed gymnastics. I thought doing something in my final season would bring back a love of sport and I'd end on a good note."
PHOTOS (Top) Rockford’s Sydnee Schrauben takes her first strides of a vault run during the MHSAA Individual Finals on March 8 at Kenowa Hills. (Middle) Schrauben takes a photo at a state gymnastics competition prior to high school. (Below) The Rams senior tops the podium for Division 2 all-around last weekend. (Click for more from this season’s Finals from High School Sports Scene.)