Gymnastics Finals: Catching the Comets
March 9, 2012
For the past four seasons, MHSAA gymnastics has begun and ended with Grand Ledge.
The Comets have won four straight team championships. Grand Ledge gymnasts also have claimed the last five Division 1 individual titles, and senior Christine Wilson won Division 2 in 2011.
But a number of strong teams and individuals are banking on putting an end to the Comets’ recent dominance.
Below are some of the favorites.
Team Finals are today at 2 p.m., with Division 2 individual competition at noon Saturday and Division 1 at 3:30 p.m. All are at Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills High School. Tickets cost $7.
Click for a complete list of qualifiers, Regional results and this weekend’s rotation schedules.
Team Title Contenders
Grand Ledge finished nearly four points ahead of Canton at the 2011 Team Final. But tonight’s competition stands to be closer.
Grand Ledge: Four of the Comets’ top six from last season have continued to star this winter and helped Grand Ledge to the highest Regional score in the state, 149.40. The Comets haven’t lost a meet since finishing runner-up at the 2007 Final, and won both the Kenowa Hills and Canton invitationals this season – making them again the strong favorite.
Canton: This team should provide the biggest obstacle to a Comets five-peat. Canton finished just 75 thousandths of a point behind Grand Ledge at its invitational Feb. 4. Canton also posted the second-highest Regional score, 148.525, and has finished second and fourth, respectively, at the last two Team Finals.
Troy Athens/Avondale: Also a Regional champion, Athens/Avondale is led by individual Division 1 Regional champion Ashley Moskal -- and edged Farmington by 1.525 points for the team Regional title with a score of 146.975. Athens/Avondale finished fourth at the Canton Invitational.
Farmington: The 2010 and 2008 Finals runner-up finished second at its Regional with a 145.45, but third at the Canton Invitational. Senior Alyssa Bresso scored a 36.400 all-around in her Division 1 Regional, while senior Amanda Lumley won Division 2 that day with a 37.125 and sophomore teammate Meredith Jonik was second with a 36.525.
You’ll read these names again
Division 1
Paige Blythe, Howell: Won her Division 1 all-around with a score of 35.925, including a first place on beam (9.625).
Kylie Dudek, Coldwater junior: Finished second at her Regional with an all-around 37.125 thanks to top-four finishes in each individual event. She won her conference championship, and was 12th at last season’s Final.
Melissa Green, Canton sophomore: Finished second at her Regional with an all-around 37.175. She finished 17th at the Division 1 Final last season.
Ayana Lewis, Canton senior: Finished third at her Regional with an all-around 37.100. She was the Division 2 all-around runner-up at last season’s Finals.
Catrina Malysz, Highland-Milford sophomore: Finished fourth at her Regional, but with a score of 37.050 including a first place on vault (9.30).
Jocelyn Moraw, Canton freshman: Won her Regional with an all-around 37.650 and finished first in three events.
Ashley Moskal, Troy Athens/Avondale senior: Won her Regional with an all-around 38.175, including a first place on bars (9.825). She finished third at last season’s Final.
Sara Pakkanen, Negaunee sophomore: Tied for third at her Regional with an all-around 36.525, including a first place on beam (9.65). She’s a foreign exchange student from Finland.
Chloe Presley, Highland-Milford senior: Finished second at her Regional with a 38.000, keyed by a win on beam (9.80). She finished second at the Kensington Lakes Activities Association meet and fifth at last season’s Final.
Christina Shabet, Troy sophomore: Finished third at her Regional but with a score of 37.975 and a first place on floor (9.80). She finished ninth all-around at last season’s Final.
Taylor Tepper, Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills/Grandville senior: Finished Division 1 Final runner-up the last two seasons. This winter, she tied for third at her Regional with an all-around 36.525, with first places on floor (9.925) and vault (9.70).
Christine Wilson, Grand Ledge senior: Last season’s Division 2 Final champion moved up to Division 1 this winter and won her Regional with an all-around score of 38.800. She’s posted 10.0 scores twice this season and won bars at the Regional with a 9.95.
Division 2
Presley Allison, Grand Ledge sophomore: Finished fourth at her Regional with an all-around 36.400, including a first place on beam (9.450). She finished third all-around at last season’s Final.
Sereen El-Awad, Troy Athens/Avondale senior: Although third all-around at her Regional (36.250), she won both vault (9.05) and bars (9.05) and was second on floor (9.70). She tied for seventh at last season’s Final.
Lauren Clark, Grand Ledge junior: Won her Regional with an all-around 36.950, with first places on floor (9.625) and bars (9.025). She finished eighth at last season’s Final.
Ashley Hextall, Pinckney junior: Won her Regional with an all-around 36.40, with first places on the vault (9.50) and floor (9.425).
Jacey Jackard, Haslett/Williamston/Bath senior: Finished third at her Regional with an all-around 35.50 after placing fifth at last season’s Final. She won bars at the Regional (8.825).
Nicole Jacobs, Salem senior: Finished second at her Regional with an all-around 35.975. She took 16th at last season’s Final.
Meredith Jonik, Farmington sophomore: Finished second at her Regional with an all-around score of 36.525 and won beam that day with a 9.425. She finished 15th at last season’s Final.
Megan Lee, Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills/Grandville senior: Finished third at her Regional with an all-around 36.875, including runner-up finishes on both beam (9.40) and floor (9.525, tied). She finished 11th all-around at last season’s Final.
Erica Lucas, Canton sophomore: Finished first at her Regional. She tied for fourth on vault at last season’s Final.
Amanda Lumley, Farmington senior: Won her Regional with an all-around score of 37.125, with a first place on floor (9.875). She finished fourth at last season’s Final.
Karry Modolo, Freeland/Saginaw Swan Valley junior: Finished second at her Regional with an all-around 35.775 despite not winning an individual event. She finished second on bars (8.75).
Brittany Ramirez, Salem: Finished fourth at her Regional with an all-around 35.775.
Sara Peltier, Grand Ledge sophomore: Finished second at her Regional with an all-around 36.900, including a first place on vault (9.425). She finished 12th all-around at last season’s Final.
PHOTO (top) of Christine Wilson courtesy of Grand Ledge gymnastics program. Photo (middle) of Haslett/Williamston/Bath's Jacey Jackard.
It's Hartland's Turn to Celebrate 'Ring Season' After Clinching 1st Finals Title
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
March 7, 2025
GRAND RAPIDS – It may not yet possess the tradition of a holiday season, but the Hartland gymnastics team is ecstatic to have a whole new season to celebrate.
It's now Ring Season for the Eagles.
Hartland turned eight top-five finishes into its first MHSAA Finals team gymnastics championship Friday at Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills by outlasting three-time reigning champ Rockford. The Eagles finished with 148.57 points to 146.525 for the runner-up Rams.
Eagles coach Gavin Kress said the result lived up to the team's ultimate goal going way back to last year's narrow but promising fourth-place finish. And Kress said his team had the perfect expression for the success going back to the first days of practice this winter.
"Our motto all year has been ring season," he said. "That's what the girls call it – ring season."
While programs such as Rockford, Farmington United and Grand Ledge have dominated the sport with 14 Finals titles between them since 2008, Kress didn't think his team’s championship came out of the blue. Hartland finished fourth the last two years, missing out on last season’s title by 2.5 points and by 4.1 in 2023.
This time around, the Eagles were led by seven seniors, but with plenty of underclassmen talent. The team didn't score below 142 points in any significant meet this winter, topped off by arguably their best showing Friday.
"We've definitely built up to this, and we killed (routines) today," he said. "We've beat team and individual records all year. I didn't want to predict this, but the girls did."
Hartland was headed by junior Alexis Fundich, who finished first on bars (9.6750), beam (9.75), floor (9.7) and all-around (38.425). She said many of her teammates have been on varsity for two or three years while showing significant improvement. That improvement, Fundich said, is what pushed the Eagles from the cusp of a state title to taking home the hardware.
"We've worked hard, so it's not too surprising to us," she said. "We were a little frustrated after finishing fourth last year, but that motivated us. We worked hard and expected to do better than fourth."
Farmington United was third with 144.975 points, Northville fourth at 142.575 and Linden/Fenton/Lake Fenton was fifth at 139.925.
Rockford coach Michelle Ankney, part of a program which has collected six Finals titles since 2015, said she wasn't surprised by Hartland's solid showing, which also featured four top-five finishes by Abby Griffen, including a first on vault (9.725), as she placed fourth all-around (37.8).
"They have some amazing skills, hard skills. We're impressed with them, for sure," Ankney said. "But we're proud of ourselves. We're young (six seniors among 27 athletes). We had the highest team score we've had this year, so we're very proud."
Hartland senior Jayden Garcia said while some teams would be more than content with a top-five Finals finish, last year's meet left her teammates believing they could take the next step this season.
"We got fourth, but we tried to push ourselves more and more," she said. "This year we thought we could do better. We worked from the moment we got fourth last year. We were fired up at every event. Winning state was our main goal."
Kress said much of the team's strength can be traced to talent. But when you toss in the leadership of seven seniors, the motivation from being in the hunt a year ago and obvious improvement over the last three months, winning the championship actually shouldn't have been considered a longshot.
"One hundred percent," he said of the seniors' influence. "They support every single person on the team and help build up their confidence. That definitely contributed to our scoring."
Leah Hodge of Farmington United, last season’s Division 1 individual all-around champ, was second on vault (9.7), second on bars (9.675), third on floor (9.475) sixth on beam (9.325) and second all-around (38.175).
Rockford's Ava Ezell was runner-up on beam (9.65) and third all-around (37.875). Keira Sadler of Linden finished fifth (36.8) all-around.
The Individual Finals will be held at Kenowa Hills beginning at noon Saturday.
PHOTOS (Top) Hartland's Emma Beres competes on floor exercise during Friday's Team Gymnastics Final at Kenowa Hills. (Middle) Livonia Stevenson's Mya Chamberlain competes on balance beam. (Below) The Eagles take a team photo with their championship trophy. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)