Bark River-Harris gymnasts pose for a photo after winning the Great Northern Conference Championship on Feb. 20, 2025 at Escanaba High School. (Adam Hinch/Daily Press)

ESCANABA — Bark River-Harris continued to make strides here Thursday night, earning its first Great Northern Conference gymnastics championship with 128.85 points.

The Broncos were followed by Escanaba B 124.4 and Marquette A 110.95.

“This feels great,” BR-H coach Alex Zelenak said. “The girls are happy. Everybody wants to compete and do her best at regionals. We’re proud of what we accomplished. We know it’s only our second year, but we have a lot of talented girls. Escanaba has a lot of young talent coming up. They’re going to be good again next year.”

Junior Lucy Baumgartner led the Broncos with first-place finishes in all-around with 34.2 points and uneven bars (8.1) and shared first with Esky sophomore Sophie Hill on vault at 9.0.

“It’s very exciting to win as a team,” Baumgartner said. “Qualifying for regionals gives us a better chance (downstate). This is definitely a big accomplishment. I think that will help us next season. It’s definitely a mental game. It takes a lot of practice to get where you want. Escanaba is good competition. They make us better.”

The Broncos claimed the top three places on bars with Kristy Karl placing second (7.6) and Maggie Karl third (7.3).

“That won the meet for Bark River-Harris,” Esky coach Theresa Pascoe said. “We’re lacking skills on bars. That has been one of our struggles for years and it’s no different this year. We also had way too many falls off beam. That’s what killed us. I was disappointed in the number of falls we had. We’ve got to fight through it. We’re going to push hard on that next week. All five of our girls on bars have to get stronger.

“Our floor routines were beautiful. I’m very happy for Hayden (Turchin). We’ll be working to keep our routines clean and I was very proud of (sophomore) Sophie Hill, doing vault for the first time and tying with Lucy.”

Turchin also shared first with Maggie Karl in floor exercise with 8.95 points, just a half-point better than Kristy Karl.

“The Karl girls from Gladstone are good athletes,” Pascoe said. “Expanding their co-op program has enhanced their (BR-H’s) program tremendously. I was very excited for Calumet. They looked good and Marquette had several girls who held their own.

“Kaycie Berube and Vickie Mantela got qualifying scores on vault. Vickie is a senior and gets one last hurrah at regionals. I’m very happy for her.”

Calumet scored 65.7 points despite having just two girls on its team.

Copper Kings’ senior Nora Keranen won beam at 8.8, followed by Turchin (8.55) and her sister Brooklyn Keranen and Marquette’s Lola Rink (8.5).

“Beam and floor went well,” Nora said. “We’ve grown close together and worked on that during the summer. We have a sister-like bond.”

Regionals take place March 1 at Rockford (near Grand Rapids).

“Lucy is hoping to make it to state,” Zelenak said. “The regionals is where we kind of want to start for next year. We have five girls who can compete in all-around down there.”

Results

Bark River-Harris 128.85, Escanaba B 124.4, Marquette A 110.95, Marquette B 66.85, Calumet 65.7, Escanaba A 15.12.

All-around — 1, Baumgartner, BR-H, 34.2; 2, N. Keranen, C, 33.25; 3, K. Karl, BR-H. 32.95; 4, B. Keranen, C, 32.45; 5, Hill and Benetti, E, 32.0 (tie).

Vault — 1, Baumgartner, BR-H and Hill, E, 9.0 (tie); 3, K. Karl, BR-H, 8.8; 4, N. and B. Keranen, C, 8.6 (tie).

Floor exercise — 1, Turchin, E and M. Karl, BR-H, 8.95 (tie); 3, K. Karl, BR-H, 8.9; 4, Hill, E, 8.85; 5, Baumgartner, BR-H and Benetti, E, 8.75 (tie).

Balance beam — 1, N. Keranen, C, 8.8; 2, Turchin, E, 8.55; 3, B. Keranen, C, and Rink, M, 8.5 (tie); 5, Baumgartner, BR-H, 8.35

Uneven bars — 1, Baumgartner, BR-H, 8.1; 2, K. Karl, BR-H, 7.6; 3, M. Karl, BR-H, 7.45; 4, N. Keranen, C, 7.35; 5, B. Keranen, C, 7.3.