Coldwater's Hantz signs on with Trine University Acrobatics and Tumbling

Coldwater’s McKenna Hantz has spent many hours honing her craft on the mats, beams, bars and vaults at Coldwater High School, turning herself into a true all-around athlete. Well those efforts did not go unnoticed as Hantz recently signed her letter of intent to compete for the Trine University Acrobatics and Tumbling team.

“I chose Trine because it’s close to home and they gave me the chance to do acro and tumbling,” said Hantz.

Acrobatics and Tumbling is an interesting sport, as essentially it is a combination of cheerleading and gymnastics with elements of dance mixed in. Acrobatics and Tumbling was named an NCAA Emerging Sport for Women in 2020 and has since been on a historic rise, working its way into all levels of college sports for women.

As stated by NCATA Executive Director Janell Cook in the article “NCAA Acrobatics and Tumbling has taken a significant step on the road to forty” published on thencata.org, “The creation and growth of Acrobatics & Tumbling is truly a unique story - a new sport created by women, for women at the collegiate level. The founding members of the NCATA came together with a vision for a new pathway.  Then worked together to provide new, safe, inclusive opportunities for gymnasts and cheerleaders to compete in their skill sets and to pursue their academic goals as varsity student-athletes.”

For Hantz, who has spent her high school career excelling for the Coldwater Gymnastics team as well as the Coldwater Swim and Dive Team, the rise of Acrobatics and Tumbling could not have come at a better time. Hantz will now join a relatively young Trine Acro and Tumbling team that finished the 2021-22 season with a record of 3-6 overall on the season, a season that ended with a 200.970-131.600 win over Stevenson University in the NCATA Division III Invitational. The Trine Acro and Tumbling team is a relatively young team, only saying goodbye to one senior, however for the very talented Hantz that just pushes her to work harder to earn her spot.

Hantz is no stranger to hard work, having just capped off her storied gymnastics career with a trip to the MHSAA Gymnastics Individual State Finals where she competed in in the all-around competition.

In order to advance to the state finals Hantz had to perform well at the Division Two Regional competition and for the talented senior it proved to be no sweat. Hantz went on to qualify for all four state finals events in addition to the all-around, starting with a fifth place finish on the vault with a score of 8.625. On the uneven bars Hantz also earned a state finals qualification with a score of 7.675, good enough for eighth place overall in the event. It was then on to the balance beam where Hantz finished in fifth place with a score of 8.175, earning a state finals bid in that event as well. The final event of the day, the floor exercise, saw Hantz finish in ninth place, scoring 8.7 points and punching her ticket to the state finals in yet another event. Thanks to her all around efforts Hantz also punched her ticket to the all-around competition at the state finals, taking sixth place in her division with a score of 33.175 points.

Hantz went on to complete her storied career as a Cardinal at the Division Two MHSAA State Finals where she earned the right to compete in all four disciplines at the finals. Hantz went on to finish in a tie for thirty-first on the uneven bars; twenty-ninth place on the balance beam after a near flawless routine; twenty-eighth place on the floor exercise; and her best finish, twenty-first place, on the vault which proved to be her signature event. In all Hantz finished in twenty-fourth place in the Division One all-around competition with a season best score of 33.4 points. “McKenna (Hantz) completed her career in the best way possible by posting her highest all-around score of the year,” said Coldwater head coach Kim Nichols directly after the state finals.

Moving on to the college ranks is a big step for anyone, no matter the sport, and for Hantz she has a direct handle on what she feels she needs to work on to succeed as a member of the Thunder Acro and Tumbling team.

“I need to work on my confidence,” said Hantz. “I always feel like I can do better, that I can be better, which isn’t a bad thing. I just need to work on being able to see when I do things well and work off of that.”

Over the past past four years Hantz has made many memories with her work on the Coldwater Gymnastics team as well as the Coldwater Swim and Dive Team. When asked about what her best memory from the past four years was, Hantz pointed to her senior year on the gymnastics team. “My senior year, making it to state in gymnastics. I worked so hard for all four years just to get there. I will never forget that.”

McKenna Hantz leaves behind a great deal of memories and moments at CHS and now looks towards college where there is still much in store for the talented acro and tumbling athlete. Congratulations to Coldwater’s McKenna Hantz on her decision to further her academic and athletic career at Trine University.

Get to Know Your Recruit

Name: McKenna Hantz

School: Coldwater High School

College: Trine University

Major: Pre-Physical Therapy

Favorite Food: Cheese Curds or Fried Pickles

Favorite Dessert: Cheesecake

Favorite Movie: The Greatest Showman

Favorite TV Show: The Vampire Diaries

Hobbies: I love to shop and hang out with my friends. I also like to work out and got to the gym

This article originally appeared on The Daily Reporter: Coldwater's Hantz signs on with Trine University Acrobatics and Tumbling