Team Growing, Scores Rising as Bark River-Harris Continues to Build in 2nd Season
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
January 6, 2025
ESCANABA —Bark River-Harris gymnastics is only a few meets into its second season as a program. But the Broncos are quickly and impressively building on last year’s debut.
The second-year program is growing – now offering cooperative program opportunities for athletes from Iron Mountain, Powers North Central, Escanaba Holy Name and Gladstone – and at the Dec. 7 Escanaba Elks Invitational scored a school-record 125.80 points, which also counted as the program’s first-ever team-qualifying score for Regional competition.
“Our level of competition has improved,” coach Alex Zelenak said. “We started last year with five girls, and now we have 10. This helps our depth, although it gets tricky when it gets down to the wire. You have to decide who’s going to some meets.
“We’re just trying to find our way in the early-season meets. We’re also trying to work on our skills and execution, for example staying on (balance) beam, and I think we’ve made some progress. What you put into it is what you get out of it.”
Iron Mountain junior Lucy Baumgartner returned from last year’s team and after qualifying for the 2024 Regionals in Division 2 all-around.
“This is pretty far away, but I’ve been doing gymnastics since I was 4 years old,” she said. “I sometimes drive myself or my mom will drive me over here, depending on the weather. Being able to do this last year really helped. I have a better idea what to expect.”
Baumgartner won vault at the Elks Invitational with a score of 9.2 and uneven bars with an 8.6, and was runner-up on beam (8.3) and in all-around (34.55). She said beam is probably her strongest event.
“I’ve always been pretty shaky, but gained confidence since last year,” she added. “I’m happy with the way the season is going. My floor (exercise) has been a little off because of my (sore) ankle, but it goes with the territory.”
“Lucy is outstanding and very dedicated,” Zelenak added. “Her execution is impeccable. We’re right there with them. I’m excited for the rest of the season.”
Gladstone senior Kristy Karl, a newcomer to the program, placed fourth in all-around (31.55) at Escanaba.
“That was quite a boost,” she said. “I’m waiting for the next qualifier (Friday at Linden). I had never competed in gymnastics before. It’s nice to have this opportunity. This has mostly been a learning experience, but our coach knows a lot.
“This is definitely a lot different from what I expected. Everybody is so quiet during your routines. They want everyone to succeed. It’s nice to be part of a team. I never expected this to happen.”
Karl believes floor exercise is her strongest event.
“That’s probably because I do competitive cheer for Gladstone,” she said. “I come from cheer practice, then my sister (Maggie) and I come here as much as we can. I definitely need to work on beam the most. It's mental. The beam is 42 inches off the floor. Sometimes you just have to do it. It’s the only way to overcome that mental block.”
Zelenak is happy with the team’s overall progress.
“Kristy got a qualifying score on beam, and Maggie came close in two events,” she said. “We have practice two days a week for the dual-sport athletes. It’s hard on the body. You’ve got to have rest days.”
BR-H sophomore Zoey Jorasz also made the Division 2 Regional last season, competing on vault, and joins her teammates in being thankful for this opportunity.
“It’s really cool having more girls,” she said. “You have a chance to make friends from the other schools.
“Vault is probably my strongest event. It’s also my favorite event because you can try different things. There’s lot of options. I think the season is going pretty good, but (I) need to gain confidence on floor. I need one more qualifying score for Regionals in vault.”
North Central sophomore Addysyn DeAngelo did middle school gymnastics in North Dakota.
“I never expected to have this opportunity,” she said. “I moved from North Dakota in eighth grade. This is a big change. When I was younger, gymnastics wasn’t as hard. We pretty much stuck to the basics. This is a good learning experience. You have to be real disciplined. You also have to be willing to come to all practices.
“This has been a pretty good experience. I made a lot of new friends and like the girls I’m working with. … I think it will be fun to go downstate. I haven’t been down there much. That will be a chance to make some new friends.”
John Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
PHOTO The Bark River-Harris gymnastics team takes a photo after finishing runner-up at the Escanaba Elks Invitational. (Photo courtesy of the Bark River-Harris gymnastics program.)
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.)