Let's Play 2 (or 3, or 4)
February 16, 2012
A few conversations I had at last week's Women In Sports Leadership conference further affirmed a point I've been making for years -- high school athletes, if they'd like, shouldn't hesitate to play multiple sports.
Doing so does not hurt, but might just help their chances at landing that prized college scholarship -- on top of adding another layer to the high school sports experience.
Reaffirming this for me last week was Michigan State softball coach Jacquie Joseph, who spoke on that subject at the WISL conference. She's heading into her 24th season as a head coach at the Division I college level -- so she's been around for some of the evolution of both high school sports specialization and college recruiting. Plus, she coaches a sport that sees its share of athletes playing just that one.
Later, I spoke with a high school coach who leads teams in three sports and also played one at the Division I college level. She's a believer in this as well.
Some of the things I've been told over the years about playing more than one sport:
- It allows an athlete to learn more skills and hone more parts of his or her athleticism.
- Using another range of movement further helps condition an athlete's body and make it more resistant to injury.
- It's hardly rare to see a college football coach watching a prospect's basketball game -- coaches like to see how athleticism transfers across sports, and sometimes will see something from an athlete playing basketball that he didn't show on the football field. (Football and basketball are used in this example, but the same applies to a number of similar situations.)
- Athletes get an opportunity to play whatever they'd like only this once (unless they turn out to be that rare college athlete who takes on more than one sport at that level).
These are hardly new arguments. But they are always worth repeating -- especially when the people frequently making them (college coaches) are the ones single-sport athletes often are trying to impress.
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.)