Rebuilt Rockford Completes 3-Peat Run
March 10, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
CANTON – That Rockford’s gymnastics team began this season in rebuilding mode was hard to fathom as the Rams raised a third straight MHSAA championship trophy Friday night at Plymouth High School.
But this latest celebration was as much a testament to how far they’d come as to what they accomplished again this season.
Rockford entered this winter minus a trio of Division 1 standouts who helped turn the team into a powerhouse the last few seasons but graduated last spring.
On Friday, the Rams had only senior sisters Nicole and Carly Coughlin compete on all four apparatuses, but received scores from six gymnasts as eight competed in at least one event. That team effort was enough to land Rockford 0.525 of a point clear of runner-up Canton with a winning score of 145.300.
“We lost a lot of our good seniors last year, and we had a ton of good freshmen coming in, so we didn’t really know what to expect,” Nicole Coughlin said. “But I’m so happy with what we did today. We had to work a ton for it this year; the other two years we had strong seniors, we knew we were contenders for it. But really we had to build up from really nothing this year.”
Just two seasons ago, the Coughlins and teammate Kaitie Killinger were sophomores contributing to a Rockford/Sparta co-op team looking to win the program’s first championship since 1989.
Rockford on Friday became the fourth Lower Peninsula team since the beginning of MHSAA Finals in the sport in 1972 to win at least three straight championships, joining Ludington from 1975-79, Holland from 1994-97, Tri-Farmington from 2004-06 and Grand Ledge from 2008-13.
Nicole Coughlin’s 37.250 all-around score Friday ranked third at the meet, and Carly ranked fifth with a 36.725. Killinger and freshmen Morgan Case and Ashley Faulkner all posted scores of 9.0 or higher on at least one apparatus, and sophomore Chantel Lokers also contributed a score tying for the team’s fourth-best on bars.
Only a month ago, the Rams were searching for consistency, disappointed after a close win over a local rival that served as a wake-up call. Practices became more focused, technique more crisp and daily performances more consistent.
Rockford posted the state’s top Regional score of 147.800 last weekend.
“We had a strong team from the beginning, but we have slowly built all season long and we just happened to peak at the right time,” Rockford coach Alyssa Burke said. “They had a lot of pressure on them this year. From the first meet, it was constant ‘Oh, are they going to three-peat?’ We just told them we’re a different team this year, we’re a rebuilding team, and we’re going to go and do our best every meet and hopefully slowly build and get better all season – and hopefully three-peat, and if we don’t still have a great season.
“We really did all we could. Whether we won or lost, we were just proud that we’d done our best.”
Annual contender Canton pushed the Rams as far as possible, however. After both had finished beam, floor and vault, the Chiefs trailed by 2.325 points. Rockford went first on bars and scored 34.850. But although Canton posted the day’s highest bars score of 35.725, it wasn’t enough to make up the entire deficit.
Rockford’s floor (37.525) and vault (36.900) were the highest scoring of the meet.
But Canton couldn’t be disappointed. After finishing first or second every season from 2011-15, the Chiefs slid to fifth at last season’s Final.
“Our mantra this week was, ‘Girls, can you win?’ And last year it was, ‘Well, I don’t know’ and they ended up fifth just because they didn’t have the attitude,” Canton coach John Cunningham said. “This year, they went, ‘Well, maybe we could win.’ Well, (our coaches) have said all along, you guys could be state champs. Give or take six tenths … we could definitely be state champs.”
Senior Jana Hilditch posted the seventh highest all-around score of 36.425 for Canton, and teammates Kelsea Kernosek (35.725) and Victoria Faber (35.550) also competed all-around for the Chiefs.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills senior Christine Byam totaled the day’s highest all-around score of 37.500 as her team finished sixth. Senior Courtney Casper had the second-highest all-around (37.450) in leading Brighton to a third-place finish, up from 11th last season and its best since also finishing third in 2005.
PHOTOS: (Top) Rockford coach Alyssa Burke (right) embraces one of her gymnasts after the team's final rotation Friday. (Middle) A Rams gymnast performs on bars. (Below) A Canton gymnast performs her beam routine. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Reigning Champ Hartland Ready to Follow Senior Standouts as Repeat March Begins
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
February 27, 2026
Forget about a rebuilding year. For Hartland's gymnastics team, it's been more a matter of reloading.
A year after a veteran Eagles lineup swept to an MHSAA Finals team title, Hartland may again be in familiar waters entering Saturday's Regional meet at East Lansing.
Gone are seven seniors from the 2025 champs who totaled much of the Eagles' 148.75 points, which outdistanced runner-up Rockford's 145.525. But with enough returning talent combined with nine promising freshmen and sophomores, Hartland – which has already claimed the Kensington Lakes Activities Association title – is likely again primed to be the team to chase again at the Regional.
"It's kind of flipped this year with the freshmen and sophomores," coach Gavin Kress said. "We've got some good leaders who've provided leadership; last year we had veterans. Now we're on the newbie side, and it's a lot to adjust to."
Two of those returnees – Alexis Fundich and Kate Gostlin – have been mainstays for the Eagles. Fundich won all-around at conference after finishing first on everything except vault, while Gostlin won vault and was second in all-around. She finished first in vault at the team's biggest meets at Canton and Milford, including with season-best 9.7 on bars.
Gostlin also is unbeaten in vault, having posted scores of 9.7 and 9.5 in two key meets. "When it comes to being a competitor, she's it," Kress said of Gostlin.
A year ago, Fundich had a remarkable Individual Finals, winning floor and finishing second on beam on the way to finishing second in the Division 1 all-around with a score of 38.100. Gostlin was 12th in the Division 1 all-around, with a championship on vault (9.725). During the team competition the night before, Fundich led the Eagles’ championship surge with a meet best 38.425 al-around.
Fundich said having a younger team after relying on seniors a year ago could have been a tricky proposition. But everything has worked out well, she noted.
"Losing the seniors was hard, but we have some new freshmen and sophomores and also some juniors who have more skills now," she said. "All that has definitely helped."
Like any sports team, it's all a matter of growth. And that's where the team's seniors have greatly contributed.
"We've had to mature. There are a lot of new things. But now they've gotten used to it and they've been better," Fundich said of the underclassmen.
A level 10 club gymnast, Fundich has had to divide her season between club and high school levels. It's a schedule which she's gotten used to, and indeed she has thrived.
"There are more hours and I've had to work," she said, "but it's worth it."
Gostlin, who was 10th in vault at the 2025 Finals, said the team's younger members have grasped what it'll take to repeat as team champ. Those gymnasts saw that firsthand a year ago but find themselves needing to take a step forward this season.
"We all have to work harder to get back to winning a title," Gostlin said. "This is my senior year, and it's one of my goals. There is definitely more pressure this year. But I think we've been better and more consistent. It's been a little harder with a ton of new people, but we know we still have to work."
Even though the younger gymnasts were on the team a year ago, Kress said that didn’t guarantee success this season. The younger athletes have experienced success with a senior-dominated group – but unless they recognize how to utilize that success, improvement doesn't necessarily follow.
"There's a lot to that. A lot don't understand, so we have to teach them how to keep going," he said. "That's why having (Gostlin and Fundich) has been so beneficial."
PHOTOS (Top) Hartland’s Alexis Fundich readies for a vault attempt during last season’s MHSAA Team Final. (Middle) Teammate Kate Gostlin vaults on the way to winning the Division 1 title in the event at the Individual Finals. (Below) The Eagles stand together for a photo after winning the KLAA championship this season. (Action photos by High School Sports Scene. Team photo courtesy of the Hartland athletic department.)