Ahead of the season, longtime Carrollton Trojans coach Nicki McGovern was banking on two seniors — Gabbie Willingham and Hallie Hofling — to lead them as they sought their first championship in a program that dates to 2002. Both have missed the season, however, as they each recover from ACL surgery. So, the Trojans have had to lean on promising-yet-unproven underclassmen gymnasts to get through the four-meet regular season.
Fortunately for the Trojans, the younger talent has come through and as a result, they’re the No. 2 ranked team in 6A-7A behind Newnan, going 3-1 in their meets.
On Wednesday, they won their finale — a dual meet against Westminster.
Sophomores Abby Henry and Kalani Witherspoon and freshmen Abigail Pike and Reagan Bearden form the team that will compete in the state preliminaries and championships April 22-24 at Buford Arena.
McGovern, who founded gymnastics at Carrollton after coaching at the club level, believes that this year’s team, though young, has passed nearly every test with flying colors.
“We had a team that, for three years, finished third, second and second at state,” said McGovern, speaking of the Trojans of 2013-15. “those teams were very senior-led competitors, and they had the experience. This team doesn’t have that and it’s been a challenge, but I’ve been very impressed that they’re rising to the occasion, stepping up and giving 100 percent.”
Their season-opening meet, a win at Central Carrollton on Feb. 26, was the first opportunity the Trojans’ young gymnasts had to prove themselves beyond competing at the club level, where the focus is on the individual and not a team.
“They were learning a lot about what it means to be on a team,” McGovern said. “So they were learning to rely on, help and encourage each other, and they rose to the occasion. It was a really exciting meet for our girls.”
The only meet the Trojans didn’t win this season was March 12, when they hosted and top-ranked Newnan finished first.
“That (loss) was an eye-opener for them,” McGovern said. “Newnan’s good, and they made us work harder in the gym and fight harder to stay on the beam. That was good for them.”
The Trojans would rebound two weeks later on March 26 with a win at Locust Grove, turning in their highest score of the season — 111.7 — led by Henry’s scores of 9.9 on both the beam and floor.
That win briefly pushed Carrollton into the No. 1 spot until Newnan reclaimed it with a win in its next meet.
McGovern said the main purpose of Wednesday’s meet — which came after the team took a week off for spring break — was to get the team in front of judges one last time before the postseason.
With the regular season in the rearview mirror, the Trojans will now turn their attention to the championships. Kyndel Yett was crowned as the program’s only individual state champion, winning vault in 2015, but they’ve yet to win a team title despite coming so close — they lost to Buford by eight-tenths of a point in 2014.
McGovern has experienced championship success as an assistant on Carrollton’s cheerleading team in 2004 and 2005, and she would like for her gym team to earn that same honor.
“I try to say to them that when you win as part of a team, there’s no better feeling,” she said. “It’s just a matter of how to get them over the threshold of winning that first championship. I think that would instill pride in them because they’d be representing their school, themselves and each other.
“It would be amazing, just incredible.”
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