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.
Preview: Championship Opportunities Await Several 1st-Time Contenders
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 10, 2022
Jackson Area capped an exciting return of the Gymnastics Finals last season with its first team championship. We’ll see this weekend if that was the beginning of a trend.
Two of four Regional champions from last week – Livonia Red and Bloomfield Hills – will be seeking their first Team Finals championship Friday at White Lake Lakeland. Last season’s Division 1 and 2 individual champions both graduated, guaranteeing first-time winners Saturday as well.
Team competition begins at 4 p.m. Friday, with individual competition in both Divisions 1 and 2 beginning at noon Saturday. Tickets cost $11 each day and are available exclusively via GoFan.
Below is a glance at several of this weekend’s contenders. (Click for both days’ rotations.)
TEAM CONTENDERS
Bloomfield Hills: The Black Hawks finished fifth at last season’s Final and are trending upward. They won their Regional last weekend, scoring 139.925 to edge Farmington United by nine tenths of a point. That was the team’s highest score of the year after it previously set a season high in winning its league competition in mid-February.
Grand Ledge: The Comets finished third last season and are seeking their first Finals championship since concluding a run of six straight in 2013. They won their Regional with a statewide-best score of 147.125 and also won championships this winter at the Rockford, Kenowa Hills and Coldwater invitationals.
Livonia Red: Another Regional champion, Livonia Red (made up of gymnasts from Churchill and Franklin) set a team scoring record winning that meet with a 146.350 – the second-highest statewide last weekend. Red also finished second at the prestigious Canton Invitational, which is annually considered a preview of the MHSAA Finals, and won the Walled Lake Invitational.
Rockford: The Rams have been runners-up the last two seasons (2021 and 2019, with 2020’s Finals canceled because of COVID-19) and are seeking their first title since winning the third of three straight in 2017. They won the Canton Invitational and also were Regional champs scoring 143.700 last weekend.
Fowlerville/Byron/Pinckney/Chelsea: The lone Regional runner-up in this group, FBPC finished second to Grand Ledge with a score of 144.200 and defeated the Comets in their dual meet during the regular season. FBPC also won the 20-team Jeanne Carruss Memorial Invitational at the end of January.
DIVISION 1
Avery Boyk, Livonia Red senior: She’s an all-around contender again after finishing sixth last season with a tie for second on uneven parallel bars. She won her Regional all-around last week at 37.750 with firsts on balance beam (9.175) and bars (9.750).
Alyssa Budd, Jackson Area junior: Budd, a student at Napoleon, tied for ninth on beam and seventh on floor exercise last season. She won floor (9.675) in finishing second all-around at her Regional (36.075).
Madeleine Loomis, East Lansing senior: She finished 12th all-around last season and could be in for a big career finish after winning her Regional all-around at 37.825 with firsts on floor (9.650) and beam (9.600).
Morgan Ruffing, Livonia Red junior: She finished third all-around last season, paced by a tie for second on vault and solo seventh on bars. She won floor (9.800) at her Regional and was among the top four in all four events on the way to finishing second all-around (37.200).
Lacey Scheid, Rockford junior: She missed winning last season’s Division 1 all-around title by five hundredths of a point and took first on bars. She won vault (9.150) and balance beam (9.175) on the way to claiming last week’s Regional all-around title with a 36.825.
Bronwen Smith, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Unified junior: Smith, a student at Forest Hills Central, finished third all-around at her Regional with a 35.750 and a first on bars (9.025).
Emma Stewart, Salem junior: She’s a likely contender in her first season of high school gymnastics, placing third at her Regional with an all-around 36.850 thanks to a second on bars and two more third places.
Katie Stewart, Salem sophomore: Emma’s sister, Katie Stewart won vault (9.400) and was second on beam (9.075) in finishing fourth all-around (36.375) at the Regional.
Maeve Wright, Bloomfield Hills senior: She was fifth all-around last year with a third on floor and sixth on beam, and she won the Division 1 beam as a freshman. She won beam (9.350) and floor (9.600) last week on the way to finishing first all-around (36.850) at her Regional.
Alaina Yaney, Grand Ledge junior: She tied for ninth on vault and was 22nd all-around in 2021, and could make a big jump Saturday. She finished first on vault (9.425) and bars (9.450) in taking second all-around (37.650) at her Regional.
DIVISION 2
Charlotte Calhoun, Coldwater sophomore: She finished third all-around at her Regional (35.200) with a win on bars (8.850).
Sydney Dunn, Canton sophomore: She was a Regional all-around runner-up (35.000) with top-five finishes on three apparatuses.
Joey Gair, Rockford senior: She tied for fourth on beam on the way to finishing 13th all-around at last season’s Finals, and she could move up coming off a fourth place all-around (35.025) at her Regional.
Courtney Jordan, Plymouth senior: She won bars (9.000) and floor (9.550) and tied for first on beam (9.100) in placing first all-around at her Regional with a 36.350.
Audrey Kane, Howell senior: She finished ninth on bars and tied for eighth on floor at last season’s Finals, and she could be an all-around contender after finishing third with a 36.000 at her Regional.
Sarah Litz, Fowlerville/Byron/Pinckney/Chelsea senior: She finished sixth all-around at her Regional last week (35.825) as the six qualifying scores were separated by only six tenths of a point. A student at Fowlerville, she was fifth all-around at last year’s Finals with top-nine finishes on vault, beam and floor.
Ivy McDonald, Lowell junior: A first on beam (9.300) helped her finish second all-around at her Regional (35.550). She took third on beam and finished 11th all-around at last year’s Finals.
Emma Olds, Grand Ledge senior: She enters off a Regional all-around championship (36.425) and first on bars (9.225). She tied for third on vault and fifth on floor and was 10th on bars in finishing sixth all-around at the 2021 Finals.
Kamini Playle, Farmington United senior: She was part of a team championship as a freshman in 2019 and could make a move individually after finishing 20th all-around last season. She was second all-around at last week’s Regional (35.725) with a first on floor (9.275) and three second places.
Addison Richmond, Jackson Area senior: Richmond, a student at Jackson, tied for ninth all-around at last season’s Finals with a first place on floor. She returns coming off a fifth-place Regional all-around finish (34.650).
Grace Spencer, Farmington United junior: A student at Farmington, Spencer won the all-around at last weekend’s Regional with a 36.000 and firsts on beam (9.250) and bars (8.975).
Maty Temrowski, Linden/Fenton/Lake Fenton senior: A student at Fenton, she tied for 14th on vault and also competed on beam at last year’s Finals. She could be in the all-around mix this time after placing second at her Regional (36.125).
Anna Tracey, Rockford senior: She was first on beam and second on floor in finishing second all-around at last season’s Finals. She returns coming off a Regional all-around championship (35.575) paced by second places on beam and bars.
PHOTO Livonia Red's Morgan Ruffing competes on balance beam during last season's Division 1 Individual Finals at Rockford High School. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)