Coldwater's Calhoun takes second in All-Around at MHSAA Gymnastics State Finals

WHITE LAKE, MI. - A pair of Coldwater gymnasts traveled to White Lake Lakeland High School on Saturday to compete on the biggest stage of high school gymnastics in the state of Michigan, the MHSAA Individual State Finals. The best gymnasts from all across the state performed at the event and Coldwater was represented by junior Charlotte Calhoun as well as senior Randi Dudek, with both competing in multiple events at the finals.

Coldwater’s trip was not in vain as junior phenom Charlotte Calhoun was crowned the Division 2 runner-up in the All-Around and was named All-State in three other events. Calhoun’s finish in the All-Around competition was the highest All-Around finish for any gymnast in Coldwater history for Division 2.

Senior Randi Dudek also competed on Saturday in three events and came out with her highest Uneven Bars finish in her three appearances at the Finals. 

Competitors are divided into two Divisions at the state finals, with 49 gymnasts competing in Division 1 while 83 gymnasts competed in Division 2. 

Local gymnastics official Courtney Dean was honored in the opening ceremonies for her 20-year tenure as an MHSAA gymnastics official.  Dean is a former CHS gymnast, gymnastics coach, and gymnastics official.

The Cardinal gymnasts started out the competition on the balance beam. Calhoun stuck her beam routine to open the meet and set the tone for the day. The judging was tight at the beginning of the meet and the judges awarded only 8.85 points for her routine.  Her score kept her in the running for the overall competition, but she finished just outside the podium in eleventh place. Calhoun just missed the All-State (D2) ranking by 0.025 points. 

Randi Dudek finished in thirty-second place overall (D1) for her first appearance on the beam at the finals. Dudek struggled early on in her routine, but earned all of her event requirements and difficulty, scoring 7.8 points.

Grand Ledge’s Alaina Yaney and Lydia Beeton claimed the beam titles.

The Cardinal duo picked up the pace on the Floor Exercise and dazzled the judges with their sparkling leotards and artistic performances. Calhoun posted an impressive personal best score of 9.5 points, the second highest of all time for any gymnast in Cardinal history. Calhoun finished the day as the Division 2 runner-up on the Floor Exercise and earned All-State honors.

Jackson’s Addi Richmond was just 0.025 points ahead of Calhoun for the first-place finish.

Randi Dudek moved up in the rankings from last year as the senior standout earned 8.475 points for her routine and finished twenty-ninth in the state for Division 1.  Livonia’s Morgan Ruffing posted the highest mark of the day in D1 for her floor routine with a 9.8.

Calhoun competed on the vault after the judges’ mid-meet break and gave the crowd an impressive comeback performance after failing on both of her warm-up runs. 

“Charlotte (Calhoun) really gave us all a stressful vault rotation after her warm-up. I knew she had it in her and it just goes to show how driven and competitive she is,” explained Coldwater head coach Kim Nichols. 

The Cardinal came up big with her second vault, posting 9.275 for her tucked Yurchenko and earned an echo of applause from the crowd. 

“Coach Kahler and I were so proud of her. It was honestly the best vault she has performed all season,” said Nichols. The comeback performance earned the junior fourth place and All-State honors on the vault.

Next on the rotation for Coldwater were the Uneven Bars, the apparatus the Cardinals kicked off last year’s state finals on and the apparatus they finished this year on. Last year, Calhoun was the very first competitor on the bars and she finished in a tie for fourth with All-State honors in 2022. This year was the opposite, with Dudek and then Calhoun as the final two competitors for the State Finals Uneven Bars competition.

Dudek introduced two new skills into her routine for her final gymnastics appearance on her signature event, including an Advanced Bonus High Giant with a pirouette, followed by an inward salto dismount. The risk paid off with the senior moving up more than ten places from 2022, earning 8.4 points and a seventeenth-place finish on the event. 

Calhoun was next with a nearly flawless bar routine until a stumble on her dismount. The junior powerhouse has such a high difficulty routine, that she still finished in third place overall, one place higher than last year.  An 8.65 score earned the decorated gymnast All-State honors to complete her 2023 State Finals competition. 

“It was a hard way to finish the day, but she had such stellar performances throughout the meet, you have to be ecstatic with the overall results,” said Nichols. “I think she will just be that much hungrier for bars next year and she will set her goals even higher. As it is, she is the most decorated gymnast we have had in a decade.”

In the All-Around competition, Calhoun was named the 2023 Division 2 Runner Up with a tally of 36.275 points. Calhoun narrowly missed the title (-0.375 points) that went to Grand Ledge’s Lydia Beeton, who collected 36.65 points.  Grand Ledge’s Alaina Yaney claimed the Division 1 title with her All-Around total of 38.075 points.

“The fact that Coldwater is in the running for a State Championship All-Around title is simply incredible. I’m so proud of Charlotte’s efforts this year. She is an amazing young person, both on and off the mat,” explained Nichols.  “She is certainly a winner in my book!”

The MHSAA Team Finals took place on Friday with the defending State champion Rockford Rams taking the win, and Jackson Area Gymnastics claiming the runner-up trophy.  Both teams compete in Region 1, alongside Coldwater.  Third place went to Farmington United, followed by Hartland and Livonia.

“We compete against the best gymnasts in the state in both our conference and our region,” said Nichols. “It shows just how tough our competition is, and also how incredible it is for our Coldwater gymnasts to be in the running right beside them.”  

In addition to the high-level gymnastics at the Conference and Regional meets, Coldwater hosted the Farmington and Grand Ledge teams, among others, at their Stick It Invitational. This year the meet was a preview of the All-Around champions, and included three of the top 10 teams in the state.

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Coldwater's Calhoun and Dudek compete at Gymnastics State Finals