MILFORD — At a school with one of the top athletic programs in Michigan, Hartland’s gymnastics team stands out.
The Eagles repeated as state gymnastics champions on Friday, March 6 at Milford High School, becoming only the second team in school history to win back-to-back state titles.
The hockey team won consecutive state championships in 2018 and 2019. Gymnastics and hockey have three state championships, tied for the most by Hartland teams. In all, Hartland has won 14 state titles, 11 coming in the past 12 school years.
Having won it all last year, the Eagles knew the drill after taking a casual team photo with the championship trophy. It was suggested they needed a better photo to put on the wall in the gym alongside the other state championship teams won by Hartland since the current school opened in 2003-04.
“Coming from a program that isn’t a co-op or united team, we’re just Hartland by ourselves,” Hartland coach Gavin Kress said. “It shows we have a strong athletic program as it is and strong gymnastics as it is as well.”
Hartland expected its toughest competition to come from Rockford once again, but it was Farmington United that finished as runner-up. The Eagles scored 146.5 points, Farmington 145.45 and Rockford 143.825. The Brighton-Howell co-op team was seventh out of 12 qualifying teams with a score of 138.775.
“It means a lot to me,” said Hartland senior Lexi Fundich, who joined the team as a sophomore. “I grew up in club gymnastics, so coming back into high school gymnastics rekindled my love of gymnastics. I’m grateful for it.”
Fundich and fellow senior Kate Gostlin were the top returning gymnasts from last year, but there were significant holes in the lineup following the losses of Abby Griffen, Emma Beres, Allie Goyt and Ella Scherer.
Newcomers stepped in to keep the Hartland program the best in Michigan.
“Going into this year, we already had the feeling of winning, so it was a drive to go back-to-back and just repeating,” Kress said. “We had a lot of veterans we lost last year, a lot of freshmen and new people coming in. They understood the assignment. They came in and gave it all they’ve got and came out victorious.”
Hartland had the top scores in the meet in vault, bars and floor exercise. The Eagles were third on beam. Hartland clinched the victory by scoring 37.425 on vault, while Farmington scored 35.675 and Rockford 36.625.
Senior Kate Gostlin’s 9.8 on vault, the best score in the competition by three-tenths of a point, was the defining moment of the meet.
“It’s actually really special to me since it is my last year,” Gostlin said. “It means the world to me. It was such an amazing experience both years. This year feels more special.
“Our vault scores were incredible. Once I got that vault score, I was like, ‘OK, this is getting a little bit better.’”
Hartland had three of the top four vault performances, with Fundich taking second with a 9.5 and Olivia Flatt fourth with a 9.325.
Fundich tied for first on floor with a 9.65, was second on bars with a 9.275 and was fifth on beam with a 9.25. Gostlin tied for third on floor with a 9.55.
On bars, Olivia Terrell took fourth with a 9.05 and Kendel Simmons seventh with an 8.925 for the Eagles. Olivia Flatt was ninth on beam with a 9.15.
Fundich had the second-best all around score with a 37.675. Flatt was fifth with a 36.1 and Howell’s Zoe Cerda was 10th with a 35.4.
“It feels very good, especially after all the hard work getting put into it,” Fundich said. “It feels really good to be state champs two years in a row.
“It was a little bit more difficult because we lost a few good gymnasts. We had about seven seniors that left, so that was a little bit hard, but everyone was putting in hard work and it paid off.”
The individual portion of the state meet will be held at noon Saturday at Milford.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@livingstondaily.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Hartland gymnasts make history by repeating as state champions
Reporting by Bill Khan, Livingston Daily / Livingston Daily
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