Preview: Returning Contenders Lead 2023 Championship Chase
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 10, 2023
Last season saw first-time MHSAA Gymnastics Finals individual champions in both divisions and a first-time-in-a-few-years team title winner – and several 2022 contenders will fill the field again this weekend at White Lake Lakeland.
Reigning team champion Rockford posted the state’s highest Regional score last weekend, and the top three Division 1 all-around finishers from last season’s Final also return along with the 2022 Division 2 runner-up .
Team competition begins at 4 p.m. today, with individual competition in both Divisions 1 and 2 beginning at noon Saturday. For information on purchasing tickets, Finals rotations for both days and Regional results, go to the Gymnastics page – and see below for some of the many contenders to watch:
Team
Hartland: The Eagles claimed their Regional last weekend with a 142.350 and are pursuing their first Finals championship since 1999, after finishing ninth last season. They placed five of the top nine in Division 1 all-around at the Regional, led by fourth-place Delaney Gomolka.
Howell: The Highlanders were runners-up to Hartland last weekend led by the second and third-place finishers in Division 1 all-around – Kayla Forsyth and Maria Petru, respectively, on the way to a score of 142.05. Howell is seeking its first Finals team title and didn’t qualify last season but finished ninth in 2021.
Jackson Area: The 2021 champion finished eighth last season but should be in contention again after placing second to Rockford at last week’s Regional with a 143.525 – the third-highest team Regional score overall. The team placed the second, third and fourth-place Division 1 all-around finishers last week and the runner-up in Division 2.
Farmington United: Farmington is seeking its first team championship since winning back-to-back in 2018 and 2019, and finished 10th last season. The team won its Regional last week with a score of 142.400 and placed the top two in Division 2 all-around, plus received Division 2 wins on vault from Elena Anzivino and balance beam from all-around champ Grace Spencer and placed the top three on uneven parallel bars led by Bella Thibodeau.
Rockford: The Rams emerged from runner-up in 2021 to champion last season and have remained the team to chase with wins at every event this season including the Canton Invitational, which often serves as something of a preview of the Finals. They won their Regional last week by more than three points with a 146.675 led by Division 1 all-around champion Lacey Scheid and Division 2 all-around winner Hailey Hill, who topped a group of five who finished among the top nine in that division.
Salem: The Rocks are seeking a first team championship since 1993 and won their Regional last weekend with a 144.950 – 3½ points better than the field and four points higher than when they placed fifth at last season’s Final. Salem put 13 gymnasts in events last weekend and placed Katie Stewart and Emma Stewart first and second all-around, respectively, in Division 1 and Anna Barczyk second in Division 2.
Division 1
Alyssa Budd, Jackson Area senior: After earning two top-10 Finals event places as a sophomore, she finished 10th all-around in Division 1 last season and should climb again after taking second at last week’s Regional with a 36.650 with second places on all four apparatus.
Kayla Forsyth, Howell senior: She’s an all-around contender after finishing second at her Regional with a 37.125, only 0.375 of a point off the lead and while winning bars (9.45) and tying for first on vault (9.625).
Allie Mattes, Grosse Pointe United sophomore: She debuted at the Finals last season with a 22nd-place all-around finish in Division 1, and she’s set to make a move after winning her Regional last week with a 34.250.
Maria Petru Howell junior: After competing in two events and winning the Division 2 championship on bars last season, Petru moved up to Division 1 and placed third at her Regional last week with a 36.950 that included a first place on beam (9.30).
Lia Pinkosky, Canton junior: She also competed in Division 2 last season, finishing 16th all-around and then making the jump this winter. She finished fourth all-around at her Regional last week at 36.275, keyed by a second place on beam.
Morgan Ruffing, Livonia Red senior: The reigning Division 1 all-around champion truly was an all-around standout at the 2022 Finals with a best event finish of second but top-five places in all four. She finished third at her Regional last week at 36.550 with firsts on floor exercise (9.60), vault (9.675) and bars (9.40).
Lacey Scheid, Rockford senior: She finished second all-around as a sophomore and third last season with first places on beam and floor. She’ll make another run at the championship after winning her Regional with a 38.100 and firsts on all four apparatus – vault (9.60), bars (9.55), beam (9.325) and floor (9.625).
Emma Stewart, Salem senior: She posted a seventh-place all-around finish last winter, and finished second at a loaded Regional last week at 36.600 and with a win on beam (9.375).
Katie Stewart, Salem junior: She finished a place ahead of her sister Emma to win last week’s Regional with a 37.150 and finished a place behind Emma at last year’s Final, eighth all-around.
Alaina Yaney, Grand Ledge senior: Last season’s Division 1 runner-up finished a half point behind Ruffing and won vault. She’ll pursue the championship again coming off a Regional title (37.550) with firsts on floor (9.60) and vault (9.625).
Division 2
Lydia Beaton, Grand Ledge junior: Last season’s Division 2 all-around runner-up missed out on the championship by just 0.175 of a point after winning floor and vault. She won her Regional this time with a 35.700 including first places on bars (8.65), vault (9.15) and floor (9.25).
Charlotte Calhoun, Coldwater junior: She placed 15th all-around in 2022 and enters this weekend off a fifth place and 35.625 from the highest-scoring Regional in Division 2 – where she also won bars (9.325) by nearly half a point.
Alex Cinzori, Plymouth junior: After making the Finals last season on bars and finishing 15th, she advanced this time as a Regional all-around champion with a score of 35.350 and first place on floor (9.625).
Elena Hale, Huron Valley United junior: She also was a single-event qualifier last season, on floor, but will return this weekend competing all-around after a third-place Regional finish with a score of 35.225 and first place on floor (9.425).
Hailey Hill, Rockford junior: She posted the highest Regional all-around score in Division 2 last week at 36.000 with sixth places or higher on every apparatus. She competed at last year’s Finals on floor (tied for 13th), bars and vault.
Ivy McDonald, Lowell senior: She finished 11th all-around as a sophomore and tied for 11th last season, and was fourth all-around at her Regional last week at 35.675 with a co-championship on beam (9.30).
Addi Richmond, Jackson area junior: She tied for ninth all-around as a sophomore and finished 10th last winter, and returns having finished runner-up to Hill at their Regional with a 35.850 and first place on floor (9.55).
Grace Spencer, Farmington United senior: She’ll be in the mix again after tying for eighth all-around last season and coming off a second-straight Regional championship (36.200) that included a first on beam (9.55).
Bella Thibodeau, Farmington United sophomore: She finished second to Spencer at their Regional with an all-around 35.300 and first place on bars (8.75) after competing in that event at last year’s Finals.
Katie Tracey, Rockford sophomore: She finished 18th all-around last season and could move up substantially after placing third at last week’s Regional with a 35.825 and sharing a balance beam championship with McDonald (9.300).
PHOTO From left, Rockford’s Lacey Scheid, Livonia Red’s Morgan Ruffing and Grand Ledge’s Alaina Yaney finished third, first and second, respectively, at last season’s Division 1 all-around competition. All three will compete again this weekend. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
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.)