Troy's Shabet Finishes with a First
March 9, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
CANTON – Christina Shabet knew it wasn't the best thing to do during a competition. But she couldn't keep back the tears Saturday after falling off the beam for the second time.
She’d also just watched another competitor put up a great score on the apparatus, and those two together seemed to spell the end of Shabet’s pursuit of the MHSAA Division 1 championship this winter.
“I’d worked so hard, and I fell on the easiest skill I have in my routine,” Shabet said. “I was kinda devastated, and I thought, ‘Oh no, I’m not going to place at all.’
“I thought it was all over. But I went out on floor and just gave it everything.”
The Troy junior realized soon after that the competitor she'd watched do well on beam was competing in Division 2 instead. Shabet knocked out her floor routine – to go with top-seven places on bars and vault – and finished with 37.700 points to claim the all-around championship by only two tenths of a point over Coldwater senior Kylie Dudek.
Shabet didn't finish first on any apparatus. But her 9.75 on floor certainly made a huge difference, as did her 9.4 to tie for seventh on vault and 9.35 to finish fifth on bars.
Her all-around score was nearly a point higher than when she finished seventh in 2012.
“You know how you’re supposed to write down goals? I wrote it down along with my do good on the ACT thing too,” said Shabet, who then confirmed the ACT also worked out well. “I've been working so hard. It’s really nice that it pays off.”
The beam doomed a number of Division 1 contenders Saturday, although Dudek was able to come back from two falls and a score of 8.6 to finish with an all-around 37.500.
She won bars with a 9.8, was third on floor with a 9.7 and tied for seventh on vault with a 9.4 – and moved up three spots overall after finishing fifth in 2012.
“I struggled on beam … and I didn’t do the vault I normally do. But overall, I’m pretty happy,” Dudek said.
“Just having all the school records I’ve broken this year, and placing at state in the top three. That was my goal, and I did it.”
The top six placers in Division 1 all finished within 0.525 of the lead. Farmington freshman Carina Wright came in third with a 37.375 all-around score.
Four gymnasts each earned one apparatus championship in Division 1. Pinckney senior Ashley Hextall moved from up Division 2 last season to win vault with a 9.650. Canton sophomore Jocelyn Moraw had to amaze those who had also watched her during Friday’s Team Final, winning the beam with a 9.55 despite a slight limp and while competing through hamstring and back injuries. Grand Ledge’s Rachel Hogan, only a freshman, won floor with a 9.8 – which tied the Division 1 meet record for the event.
Hogan’s teammate, junior Presley Allison, claimed the Division 2 all-around championship after placing third the last two seasons. She scored a 37.875 to edge another teammate, senior Lauren Clark, by three tenths of a point.
Allison took first on both floor (9.7) and beam (9.675) and tied with Canton junior Erica Lucas (9.525) for first on vault in posting the second-highest Division 2 score in Finals history (Clark’s 37.575 was the third-highest.). Allison is the third-straight Comets Division 2 champ, and like predecessors Christine Wilson and Sara Peltier, she intends to move up to Division 1 for her senior season..
“Being Division 2 champion was my ultimate goal. I just tried to keep calm and not let my nerves get to me,” Allison said.
“I really wanted to win Division 2 before I jumped up to Division 1. It gives me more confidence to go into Division 1.”
Grosse Pointe United senior Emma Abessinio – third in the all-around – won the Division 2 bars with a 9.075.
Allison’s scores on beam and floor both set Division 2 Finals records.
PHOTOS: (Top) Troy junior Christina Shabet competes on the beam during Saturday's MHSAA Individual Finals at Plymouth High School. She won the Division 1 title. (Middle) Coldwater senior Kylie Dudek performs her floor routine en route to a second-place all-around finish in Division 1. (Bottom) Grand Ledge junior Presley Allison won the Division 2 individual title after finishing third each of the last two seasons. (Photos by Gregory Long. Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Gymnastics Could Take Flight in UP
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
February 12, 2016
ESCANABA — Gymnastics is showing signs of growth on the club level in the Upper Peninsula.
Will some of that eventually lead to a larger number of high school programs north of the Mackinac Bridge?
Nearly 20 U.P. high schools offered gymnastics at one time.
That number is now down to three with Escanaba, Marquette and Negaunee as the remaining programs.
“I’m excited that club gymnastics is growing up here and serving as a feeder to the high school programs,” Negaunee coach Eyre Becker said. “I’m hoping the three programs will keep going strong and serve as motivation for other schools to bring back their programs. I would like to see Gladstone and Menominee bring back their programs and schools like Houghton start a high school program. I would hate to think of all that equipment rotting in a warehouse somewhere.”
Theresa Pascoe, who coaches a self-funded program at Escanaba, has similar thoughts.
“I would like to see some of the old schools pick it up again,” she said. “If we continue to operate gymnastics clubs, the high school programs are only going to get stronger. We need the feeder programs to keep them heading in the right direction.
“I don’t know if the number of programs we have up here will change, but I do know we have some parents from Gladstone and Rapid River who would like to see their children compete at the high school level. This biggest thing is finding a qualified coach.”
This could be a time of opportunity for Upper Peninsula high school gymnastics, with clubs in Marquette and Escanaba but also Houghton and Baraga, where schools don’t have programs.
“It would be nice to see high school teams in those areas. I just don’t know what their thoughts are,” Marquette coach Kris Lakenen said. “Hopefully with this being an Olympic year, we’ll see even more interest.”
And the benefits of competing at the high school level are easy to list for current Upper Peninsula athletes.
“We try to be like a family up here and cheer each other on,” Marquette sophomore Kiah Staley said. “Getting to hang out with your teammates and going to all the meets is also a lot of fun because we get a chance to bond.”
After graduating from Father Marquette Middle School last spring, gymnastics helped ease the transition into high school for freshman teammate Morgan Johnson.
“Coming from Father Marquette to a public school was a big change,” she said. “The size of our entire grade was about the same as one class at Marquette High. We still have each other from Father Marquette, only there weren’t as many sports at the Catholic school. Now we have a lot more options and there are more people to push you to work harder. … Everyone is real nice, and it’s very energizing.”
Escanaba sophomore Karlie Ohman switched from competitive cheer to gymnastics a year ago. “I’ve always helped out at gymnastics camps,” she said. “I love it. It’s really fun.
“My favorite events are the balance beam and floor exercise. It was very scary to go up on the beam and perform at first, but you just have to get over your fears. I really enjoy tumbling and putting together floor routines. I also enjoy going on the (uneven) bars, but I need to get better strength and work on getting higher points.”
Escanaba’s leader, junior Lindsey Taylor, won vault with 8.7 points in a dual meet with Negaunee on Jan. 27.
“I was in gymnastics with (former Marquette standout) Rylee Doucette two years ago and she did very well," Taylor said. "I always watched her and she would help me and tell me how to get better."
Negaunee senior Hope Rosten also enjoys the camaraderie among the gymnasts.
“Gymnastics is unique that way,” said the Miners’ team captain. “I would definitely like to see more teams up here. I think that would help the teams in the U.P. … I like the competitiveness and feeling of a team. Our teammates are real supportive.”
Sophomore Kalli Mattson had similar feelings after Negaunee’s victory in Escanaba.
“I think we’re well rounded as a team,” she said. “We just have a lot of fun. It’s nice having all the support from your teammates and having the other teams support you.”
PHOTOS: (Top) A Negaunee gymnast performs her balance beam routine at a meet this season at Escanaba. (Middle) Negaunee's Hope Rosten does her parallel uneven bars routine. (Photos courtesy of Negaunee athletic department.)