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.)
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.)