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.
Performance: Farmington United's Elena Vargo
February 7, 2020
Elena Vargo
Farmington United senior - Gymnastics
The reigning MHSAA Division 1 Finals champion continued her undefeated run through high school gymnastics by finishing first in the all-around competition and leading Farmington United to the team title at Saturday’s Canton Invitational, which again featured the majority of the state’s top teams. Vargo scored a 36.950 to edge 2017 Division 1 Finals champion Cate Gagnier of Grosse Pointe United by two tenths of a point, earning the MHSAA “Performance of the Week.”
Vargo had reached the club gymnastics Level 9 and was on a track to compete collegiately, but decided before her junior year to instead focus on academics as part of the Farmington district’s International Baccalaureate program. A student then at Farmington Hills Harrison before it closed last spring, she joined a Farmington United team featuring five seniors and helped it repeat as MHSAA team champion before then winning the Division 1 title the following day. Now a student at Farmington High, she has finished first in every all-around competition during her two seasons at the high school level. At Canton, she just missed a perfect score on vault with a 9.9 and also was first on floor exercise (9.6), seventh on uneven parallel bars (8.875) and 17th on balance beam (8.575). Farmington United is a much younger team this winter with a number of freshman contributors, but posted a team score of 143.675 to outpace runner-up Rockford’s 142.559 and third-place Livonia Blue’s 140.25.
Although Vargo switched to high school gymnastics to free up more time for her studies, there’s no arguing she doesn’t maintain a packed schedule. She carries a 4.0 grade-point average while taking the advanced curriculum and also plays violin in the school orchestra and with her mother Sandra, a middle school orchestra teacher in the district. Additionally, Elena has built a jewelry business where she sells her creations and is a two-time Miss Farmington pageant runner-up. She is considering studying at University of Michigan or Miami University of Ohio, and also is awaiting replies from a pair of Ivy League schools. She’ll base what she studies in part on where she attends college – she would like to major in something in the sciences and potentially pre-medical, with a minor in business.
Coach Jeff Dwyer said: “Elena came onto a very good team her junior year, but she is an elite gymnast that has pushed us to become one of the top teams in the state last year and this year. She is one of the better floor exercise and vault performers in the state. She averages in the 9.6-9.8 range on floor, where she combines powerful tumbling with beautiful dance skills. When her vault is on, it is difficult for anyone to beat her. She performs a laid-out Yurchenko vault which has the highest start value possible (10.0) as it is a very difficult and risky vault to perform. However, she does it almost perfectly – her score of 9.9 at the meet is evidence of that perfection. A slight foot movement on her landing cost her one tenth of a point. When a team has someone who can attain such high scores in high school, it is a big lift to the team score. We have a strong team on floor and vault, but Elena adds that extra punch that can lift us even higher, especially against other strong teams.”
Performance Point: “I actually had a gymnastics career-high of 9.9 on vault,” Vargo said while recalling her Canton performance. “So that was the highlight of the meet for me, getting a 9.90, and if I stuck the landing I’d get a 10.0. So that’s my goal, one of these next meets, to get a 10.0 on vault. Floor-wise, I was happy with my performance. The other two events, I let myself get too much in my head and I wasn’t really focused on the uneven bars or the balance beam as much as I normally am. But what really helps me with those events to barely get by with them is my teammates. With any athletics or sports, your teammates are really the ones to put the foundation to motivate you … (and) my team really helped motivate me with that. … Our team was great. I was so happy we were able to beat the other 17 teams that were there. We see Rockford and Livonia Blue as our competition, and this meet really just was such a determining factor in how we may perform at states against them. Rockford won the Rockford Invite a week or two before the Canton Invite … so it really comes down to the best of the best. It comes down to your team always motivating you, your ability to stay focused in performance. Not just one person on our team is going to win it for us. We all have to work together. We definitely have been working on that, and it definitely showed up at the Canton meet.”
Showing the way: “I believe that I’ve always been a leader for our gymnastics team. I do do a higher level of skills. (But) the girls always ask me for advice on how to do specific skills, and I’m always there to help them and give them drills and different ideas. Even though I’m more on quiet side while I’m training and more focused on myself, I’m always there to motivate them and give them advice, and they do the same towards me. I want my entire team to perform just as well as I do.”
Always a Hawk, now a Falcon too: “Yes, I really do miss Harrison. Harrison was our home and we had a connection not just with the building but all of the people there. Coming to Farmington, originally there was a disconnect between Harrison and Farmington students and teachers. But I think because it’s been a few months, we’re all OK now. People-wise we’re fine, it’s just the building that’s changed. … It was pretty tough at the beginning, but it’s good now.”
Gymnastics is part of me: “I’m a gymnast at heart. Ever since I was 3, I’ve done gymnastics. It’s a part of my identity. I literally don’t know what I would do if gymnastics was not in my life. Practice is the place I can go to (and) forget about everything else and (for example) focus on my flips. I just have such a strong passion for going out on the floor and showing off what I’m able to do. It fills me so much with energy. I look forward to my practices and having fun with my teammates. It’s been a part of me for so long, it’s created who I am today. And I know when I’m older, I hopefully want to be a coach. Because gymnastics, the knowledge, the skills behind it, there’s so many different elements that have captured my heart.”
EV the entrepreneur: “My jewelry business is called ‘Designs By E.V.’ I specialize in custom jewelry and essential oil diffuser jewelry. So I make rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and I go to a bunch of different art fairs and jewelry shows year-round, and I set up my booth and I sell my products. … I make jewelry, basically to, kinda like gymnastics, (it’s) how I can escape from reality. I’m able to express my more creative side, and it actually helps me relax more.”
– Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Past honorees
Jan. 31: Michael Wolsek, Trenton swimming - Report
Jan. 24: Kensington Holland, Utica Ford bowling - Report
Jan. 17: Claycee West, White Pigeon basketball - Report
Jan. 10: Seth Lause, Livonia Stevenson hockey - Report
Dec. 5: Mareyohn Hrabowski, River Rouge football - Report
Nov. 28: Kathryn Ackerman, Grand Haven swimming - Report
Nov. 21: Emily Van Dyke, Southfield Christian volleyball - Report
Nov. 14: Taylor Wegener, Ida volleyball - Report
Nov. 7: Carter Solomon, Plymouth cross country - Report
Oct. 31: Jameson Goorman, Muskegon Western Michigan Christian soccer - Report
Oct. 24: Austin Plotkin, Brimley cross country - Report
Oct. 17: Jack Spamer, Brighton cross country - Report
Oct. 10: Kaylee Maat, Hudsonville volleyball - Report
Oct. 3: Emily Paupore, Negaunee cross country - Report
Sept. 26: Josh Mason, South Lyon soccer - Report
Sept. 19: Ariel Chang, Utica Eisenhower golf - Report
Sept. 12: Jordyn Shipps, DeWitt swimming - Report
PHOTOS: (Top) Farmington United's Elena Vargo competes on floor exercise during last Saturday's Canton Invitational. (Middle) Vargo won that event with a 9.6 and also vault and all-around. (Photos by Roger Playle.)