Senior Says Good-Bye; Freshman Rises
March 10, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
ROCKFORD – As one champion capped a weekend Saturday that couldn’t have gotten much better, another potentially got started on what could turn into one of the most impressive runs in MHSAA history.
Yes, that’s a pretty strong statement. But Grosse Pointe United’s Cate Gagnier is only a freshman – and one who already owns a Division 1 gymnastics championship.
Gagnier posted an all-around 37.225 at Rockford High School to claim it, also finishing first on balance beam and vault with matching 9.525 scores.
A Level 8 club gymnast before joining the high school team this winter, Gagnier cleared the field by nearly three quarters of a point, making a nice jump after finishing runner-up at her Regional a week ago to Port Huron United senior Hallie Roman.
The two switched spots this time, Roman finishing runner-up, as they shared a rotation and drove each other to high marks all afternoon.
“I knew I was kind’ve good, but I didn’t know I was the best,” said Gagnier, a student at Grosse Pointe North. “I stuck all my skills. I didn’t fall on anything. I smiled on floor (exercise), with helps a lot, actually.
“(Roman’s) really nice. We were cheering each other on. It was really fun. She’s really good, so I felt like, ‘Oh my, I’ve got to do good.’”
Roman scored a 36.550, moving up from 12th in 2017 to second. Livonia Blue senior Aniessa Conway (36.450) and Northville senior Erin McCallum (36.150) finished third and fourth, respectively, and another freshman – Grand Ledge’s Elizabeth Maurer – came in fifth (35.975) in Division 1.
Gagnier, who also won vault and beam at her Regional, said the big difference between club and her first high school season was the amount of jumps she had to master. The smiling was something her coaches have been reminding her to do as well.
She helped the team to a league championship in mid-February, but GPU fell just short of making Friday’s Team Final by finishing fourth at its Regional. Coach Kristin Remillet could tell Gagnier was disappointed she couldn’t will her entire team to the final weekend of the season, but she made the most of her individual opportunity.
“She has won some of the really big invitationals so far this school year and this season, and so I was very hopeful for her,” Remillet said. “But it’s her first year. I was not going in thinking that it would be quite the performance that she got today. She was shining the entire day.”
So too was Farmington United senior Elisa Bills, who provided an encore to her Division 2 championship a year ago and after helping her team Friday to its first MHSAA title since 2006.
Bills had injured a ligament in her right knee midway through the regular season and missed a month before competing again all-around for the first time at her Regional.
But she posted the highest all-around score at the Team Final, and followed that up with a 37.175 on Saturday to edge runner-up Morgan Case of Rockford (36.825).
Bills placed among the top seven on all four apparatus, finishing first in Division 2 on beam (9.575) – not bad for admitting after that there was a time she wasn’t sure she’d make it back to full speed before the season was done.
“Winning as a team was the one thing I wanted this year. This adding on top of it really made the weekend so special and an amazing way to end the season and my career in gymnastics,” said Bills, a student at North Farmington.
“I went into today as my last time competing having fun. I was kinda like, ‘It would be nice again’ – but just trying to enjoy the day, and I did. I had a blast my last time, and it really showed off.”
Conway won the Division 1 title on uneven parallel bars with a score of 9.400, and Salem senior Jordyn Williams won the floor exercise with a 9.800 – which tied two others for the MHSAA Division 1 Finals record in that event.
Case, a junior, won the Division 2 floor with a 9.600, which tied for third highest in meet history. Bills’ beam score tied for fourth-best ever at a Division 2 Final. Howell sophomore Taylor Gillespie won vault at 9.450, and Rockford junior Ashley Faulkner won bars at 9.050.
Linden/Fenton/Lake Fenton senior Blake Hutchins and Farmington United junior Kacey Noseworthy tied for fourth in the Division 2 all-around at 36.575, and Rockford junior Reagan Ammon was fifth at 36.325.
Click for Division 1 and Division 2 results.
PHOTOS: (Top) Grosse Pointe United’s Cate Gagnier begins her floor exercise routine during Saturday’s Finals. (Middle) Port Huron United’s Hallie Roman goes aerial during her floor routine. (Below) Farmington United Elisa Bills performs on balance beam. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Preview: Plenty of Title Opportunities
March 9, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
While last year’s MHSAA Gymnastics Team Final featured a group of veteran contenders rising as expected to the top, Friday’s season finale could be one of the most wide-open in some time.
Two-time reigning champion Rockford has surged again with a mix of old and new contributors, and looks like a favorite once more. So too does 2014 champion Canton, and Farmington has an opportunity to win in a way that definitely is rare; more on that below. Brighton and Forest Hills are among contenders seeking to win an MHSAA title for the first time.
Individually, there are guaranteed to be new champions both in Division 1 and 2 – but with some high placers from the last few seasons hoping to top the podium.
Team competition begins at 2 p.m. Friday at Plymouth, with the final rotation scheduled for 6:40 p.m. Individual competition in both Divisions 1 and 2 begins at noon Saturday.
Read on for a glance at a number of contenders with high hopes this weekend, and click for rotation schedules for both days of competition.
Team Contenders
Brighton – The Bulldogs have finished seventh, eighth and 10th over the last three seasons, respectively, but have a great chance to contend Friday coming off a Regional title won with the third highest score in the state last weekend, 144.600. Seniors Courtney Casper and Hannah Bracken took first and second in the Division 1 all-around at the Regional, and four gymnastics earned all-around places in Division 2.
Canton – The Chiefs finished fifth last season after five years coming in either first or second, but they’re poised to return to contention coming off a Regional win (143.425) and runner-up finish earlier at their prestigious Canton Invitational. Junior Victoria Faber was the individual Division 1 champion at the Regional, while teammates Kelsea Kernosek and Jana Hilditch took fifth and seventh, respectively, and Katie Dickson was 11th. Rachel Socha was third in the Division 2 all-around. Hilditch, Dickson and Kernosek placed among the top 15 in Division 1 at last season’s Individual Finals.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills United – Forest Hills earned its first top-two finish ever last season, coming in runner-up and 1.25 points behind Rockford/Sparta. Forest Hills finished behind Rockford by 3.425 at last week’s Regional but posted a score of 144.375. Senior Christine Byam was Division 1 individual runner-up last weekend – she took sixth at last season’s Finals.
Farmington – After moving up from fifth in 2015 to third last winter, Farmington might be the favorite with the second-highest Regional score last week (146.225) plus first places earlier at the Canton Invitational and Rockford Invitational. A championship would truly be impressive – Farmington has a stellar group of Division 2 gymnasts, including three who have qualified for the Individual Finals all-around, but none competing in Division 1. Junior Elisa Bills and senior Jacquelyn Farquhar were second and third, respectively, in Division 2 at last season’s Finals.
Rockford – The Rams graduated two of the state’s best of the last few seasons last spring coming of their second straight team championship. But they’re right back in the mix after scoring a state-high 147.800 to win their Regional last week. Seniors Nicole Coughlin, Carly Coughlin and Kaitie Killinger all contributed at last year’s Team Final and took first, third and fifth, respectively, in Division 1 at last week’s Regional as the Rams also took three of the top four all-around places in Division 2. They were third at the Canton Invitational and second at their own, but won the Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills Invitational.
Division 1
Hannah Bracken, Brighton senior – She finished second to teammate Casper at their Regional with an all-around 35.800 and was top four on every apparatus. She finished 20th all-around in Division 1 at last season’s Finals but took second on vault (9.675).
Christine Byam, Forest Hills United senior – After finishing sixth all-around at last season’s Finals, Byam could make a run at the top spot after finishing second but only a tenth of a point out of first at her Regional with a 37.300.
Emily Caragay, Plymouth junior – She set her school’s all-around record earlier this season of 37.250 and was second at her Regional last weekend with a 36.575.
Courtney Casper, Brighton senior – She’s won Kensington Lakes Activities Association and Regional championships ahead of some of the others on this list, last week earning her championship with a score of 37.375 and first places in three of four events.
Carly Coughlin, Rockford senior – Although she did not contend for the all-around at last season’s Finals, she was sixth on floor and tied for 11th on beam, and she should be in the all-around mix this time after posting a 36.775 to finish third all-around at her Regional.
Nicole Coughlin, Rockford senior – She’s finished fifth and third all-around, respectively, over the last two seasons and should make one last run at the title. Coughlin edged Byam to win their Regional with a 37.400, and she’s also the reigning Division 1 Finals champion on beam.
Victoria Faber, Canton junior – Faber won a strong Regional by 25 hundredths of a point over Caragay, with a score of 36.600 and a first place on bars. She also won bars at her team’s Canton Invitational.
Kaitie Killinger, Rockford senior – Killinger was in the team mix last season, competing on two apparatuses as her team won the title, but she could make an impact in Saturday’s individual competition after posting a fourth-place 36.675 at her Regional.
Erin McCallum, Northville junior – McCallum won vault and finished third all-around (36.200) behind Faber and Caragay at their Regional, and she should take a big jump this weekend after tying for 17th all-around a year ago.
Isabelle Nguyen, Grosse Pointe United senior – Nguyen added a Regional title (37.400) to her Canton Invitational win earlier this season, and she’s arguably the favorite in Division 1 after finishing fifth, second and second all-around, respectively, at the Finals the last three seasons.
Brianne Smith, Port Huron sophomore – Smith finished second to Nguyen at their Regional for the second year in a row, this time posting a 36.550. She placed 12th at last season’s Finals, tying for second on beam, and could climb this weekend.
Division 2
Karmen Anderson, Lowell senior – After competing at the Finals in vault and bars as a junior, Anderson is contending for a top all-around finish in her final high school meet. She won beam on the way to the all-around title at her Regional (35.650).
Elisa Bills, Farmington junior – Bills finished seventh in Division 2 as a freshman and second last season only three tenths of a point off the lead. She won last week’s Regional (37.375) with firsts on floor, vault and bars.
Jacquelyn Farquhar, Farmington senior – Like her teammate Bills, Farquhar has continued to climb from ninth in 2015 to third last winter, and she finished second to Bills at the Regional (36.900) while winning beam.
Afton LaFrance, Grand Ledge senior – After finishing fourth on floor at last season’s Finals, LaFrance looks to contend all-around coming off a Regional title (36.100) and a floor win last week.
Kennedi Seals, Farmington senior – Seals finished third of four teammates and third overall all-around at their Regional (35.850) and should be in the mix with them again.
Alyssa Walker, Howell senior – Walker has finished fourth all-around two seasons in a row and will try to finish strong again after taking second all-around at her Regional (35.750) but with a win on beam – which she also won at the Finals last season.
Jessica Weak, Livonia Blue senior – Weak jumped from 18th as a sophomore to tie for fifth last season, her second top-eight finish at the Finals, and she’s in contention to end her career number one. She won her Regional (35.650) and is the reigning Finals bars champion.
PHOTO: Rockford is shooting for its third straight MHSAA team championship, led by sisters Carly and Nicole Coughlin.