No More Just-Misses; Hogan's the Champ
March 12, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
ROCKFORD – One by one, teammates hugged Rachel Hogan, while her coach Duane Haring placed medals around the necks of the other placers and worked to keep himself together.
Before this weekend, nine Grand Ledge gymnasts had combined to win 13 all-around MHSAA Finals championships. A few won multiple titles, and one finished first in both Division 2 and Division 1.
Hogan's path was different and all her own, a mix of just-misses and domination leading to her becoming the Comets' next winner.
She finished 10th in Division 1 as a freshman, a point off the lead, then improved to second as a sophomore, finishing only a tenth of a point behind the champion. Hogan fell back to third last season, but just 0.375 points back.
Saturday’s performance included a fall on balance beam and a ninth place on floor exercise. But it also included first places on vault and uneven bars – Hogan’s sixth and seventh Finals event championships over her four seasons – and this time she rose to the top of the podium at the end of the day as well, with an all-round score of 38.000 to win Division 1 by five hundredths of a point.
“For my senior year, I really just wanted to do the best I could,” Hogan said. “It’s my last year, and I know that, so I want to just put it all out there and give it all I’ve got. So I guess there was a little more of a drive, a little more of a want to get it.
“I really hope every girl here leaves feeling that they did their best. I feel that way too; that’s a great feeling.”
Hogan’s individual titles over the last four seasons included three on vault and two each on floor and bars. She tied the Division 1 Finals record with a 9.800 floor exercise as a freshman in 2013, but needed one more record performance to claim her all-around championship.
The growing cheers with every attempt told the entire Rockford gym that Hogan was shining on vault Saturday. And her final attempt earned a score of 9.875, five hundredths of a point better than Grand Ledge’s Alexis Byington scored to set the previous record in 2010.
Hogan earlier had won bars with a 9.700.
“She’s just a class act all the way around,” Grand Ledge coach Duane Haring said. “She’s always been determined, but she’s so nice (that) when she first started, she didn’t want to beat anybody else. Because she felt bad. Over the years I said, ‘It’s OK. They’re trying to beat you. You’re still friends. It’s called sports. It’s competition. You need to try to beat them.’
“So then, she started to get a little more aggressive, and said, ‘Yeah, maybe I do want to see if I can be on top.’”
Grosse Pointe United junior Isabelle Nguyen seems to be following a similar path as this year's champion.
Nguyen was runner-up to Rockford/Sparta’s Morgan Korf last season, finishing only 0.075 of a point behind. Her second-place score of 37.950 on Saturday was only 0.050 off the lead.
Nguyen also had the second-highest all-around of Friday’s Team Final, behind only Hogan, and Saturday finished second on bars and beam and fifth on floor.
“I’m pumped. I want to get new skills and work harder this summer,” Nguyen said. “I’m still happy I stayed second the whole time. (On) bars, even though she beat me by 0.025, I was still happy with my score (9.675). And beam, yesterday at Team (Finals) I fell, and I wanted to stay on beam today, and I had a good save today.”
Hogan and Nguyen’s respective finishes were especially impressive given the loaded field in Division 1. Korf finished fifth this time after helping the Rams to the team title Friday, and junior teammate Nicole Coughlin – the leading all-around scorer for Rockford/Sparta on Friday – improved three spots from last season’s Individual Finals to tie for third with Brighton senior Margo Mekjian. Coughlin won beam with a 9.650, and Mekjian won floor with a 9.600.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills senior Cassidy Terhorst, the Division 2 champion the last two seasons, came in seventh in Division 1 this time, one spot behind junior teammate Christine Byam.
Livonia Blue senior Brianna Rhoad also ended her career on top at these Finals, winning Division 2 after finishing sixth as a junior, 15th as a sophomore and seventh as a freshman.
Rhoad’s all-around score of 36.525 placed her three tenths of a point ahead of Farmington sophomore Elisa Bills. Rhoad didn’t finish first on any apparatus, but was at least eighth on all four.
“I was nervous, but after I had a pretty good beam and floor I thought I could finish it off well,” Rhoad said. “I think last year I just had a rough meet, so I think I had a better meet this year.”
Howell claimed two event championships in Division 2 – junior Alyssa Walker won beam with a 9.475 and junior Kacy Wolfram won vault with a 9.700. Rhoads’ teammate junior Jessica Weak won bars with a 9.025, and Haslett/Williamston/Bath senior Brooke Allen won floor with a 9.375.
PHOTOS: (Top) Rachel Hogan, center, stands atop the podium Saturday as the Division 1 all-around placers are honored. (Middle) Grosse Pointe United’s Isabelle Nguyen performs her beam routine. (Below) Livonia Blue’s Brianna Rhoad hugs coach Lisa Broomfield. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Farmington United's Hodge Combines Mental Edge with Superior Skills
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
March 7, 2025
Leah Hodge is the first to admit she might not be in the hunt to repeat as an MHSAA Finals champion without snatching up her headphones and locating a cozy corner of a frantic gymnasium.
It's there that the North Farmington senior gymnast said she finds the peace of mind to fend off the pressures of a demanding sport where state championships are often decided by fractions of a point. It's a place of serenity which Hodge routinely uses to mentally regroup, focus on the next event and shrug off any disappointments of previous ones.
In fact, Hodge said if she was a gymnastics coach, her first piece of advice to a team would be to find a way of remaining calm in a sport packed with the pressure to perform.
"It definitely becomes mental because you're watching the other girls and seeing their scores and know they're doing well, but I'm very confident knowing what I'm capable of," she said. "You just have to keep calm. Even if you fall once, you know you can make that up somewhere else. Mentally, you can't let it ruin your meet. You know you have one skill that you do once."
Hodge knows what she's talking about. She will compete in Friday's MHSAA team championship meet with Farmington United and Saturday's Individual Finals at Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills. A year ago, Hodge placed in the top six on all four apparatuses to win the Division 1 all-around competition. She won the bars, took second on vault, fourth on beam and sixth on floor.
It's a tough act to follow, but Hodge, a gymnast since she was 6 years old, is on pace to mirror those finishes. She recently took first at her Regional in all-around while winning every event except floor, where she was runner-up.
Farmington United coach Jeff Dwyer said Hodge is entirely correct in tracing her success to the ability to shut out outside noises during a meet.
"She's tough," Dwyer said. "She has a high mental ability to focus in a high-level meet. Leah just gets in this zone; she's really good mentally. She'll get back on her feet and say, 'What's next?' She's so talented, but she's also a gamer."
In gymnastics, championships can be decided by one-tenth of a point. Hodge said when a slip does happen, it's critical for the competitor to push it to the back of the mind and soldier on. Mistakes can linger and will only lead to disaster, she said.
"In gymnastics if you fall once you can't make it your mindset," Hodge said. "It's not like you can think, 'Well, I might as well throw it in.' You have to learn to overcome."
Statistically, Hodge is in the mix to capture virtually any event this weekend. She figures a 38.6 could win all-around, and that’s her season-best score. Hodge thinks the winner of the beam and vault will be around 9.7 and 9.9, and she's matched those scores. The winner of the floor will be around 9.7, Hodge believes, and her season-best in that event is a 9.75.
But there is a belief that this year's meet could be overall stronger than a year ago, so Hodge recognizes repeating will take a herculean effort, not to mention a break or two along the way.
"(Scores) can be so subjective, especially on the beam," she said. "You just want a confident day."
Whether or not Hodge wins a championship, it won't be through a lack of work. Success in gymnastics requires a year-long commitment, and Hodge said her season actually begins weeks after the MHSAA Finals. She figures she put in 30-40 hours of work from last March to June along with summer workouts three days a week for 2½ hours a day.
She balances that work with hobbies such as hanging out with friends, drawing, painting, listening to music and going to the beach. The Hodge family made a trek to South Africa last December to see cousins.
"You can only take so much gymnastics; you need to relax and try not to stress out," she said. "Because if you don't, then you feel like you didn't get a break."
Dwyer echoed those sentiments.
"It's a grind. You have to learn the necessary skills along the way, but a lot of it is getting to the state meet," he said. "Leah has worked hard for the last 10 months to get to that day."
PHOTOS (Top) Farmington United's Leah Hodge, center, stands atop the podium during last season's MHSAA Individual Finals. (Middle) Hodge readies for a tumbling pass during her floor exercise routine. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)