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Feb. 11—MITCHELL — When Abby Hohn and her Mitchell Kernel teammates walk into the arena for the South Dakota state high school gymnastics competition on Friday afternoon, it won't simply be a career goal accomplished.
Instead, it's proof of a tough comeback for Hohn, who injured her knee in the preseason two years ago and has returned to be one of the key Kernels in the state meet lineup.
"It was hard. It was definitely hard not being able to do the sport that I've done my whole life," Hohn said. "Coming back, my teammates definitely were a big part of that. My mom (Allison) was so supportive, and my physical therapist is helping me through some things. Just coming back to gymnastics, I was just focusing on the right mindset to get me going again."
Because of her youth and then the injury as a freshman, this will be Hohn's first state high school meet. As an eighth-grader in 2023-24, Mitchell coach Audra Rew said Hohn was still learning many of the basics of high school gymnastics and was competing on the Kernels' junior varsity.
"She worked really hard that summer after eighth grade, and got all kinds of skills. We were so excited," Rew said. "And then we got to the first day of (her freshman) season and she was out for the whole season."
Hohn, a Kernel sophomore, competes on vault, beam and floor exercise. Vault is her best event, posting a 9.475 as her top score at Sioux Falls Lincoln on Jan. 24. That ranks third-best on the Kernel roster behind seniors Kyanna Gropper and Olivia Prunty, and fifth-best among all Class AA gymnasts.
Mitchell had seven seniors on its varsity roster last season, which made positions crowded in the lineup. Hohn had another year to observe and learn and prepare, and now she's taken advantage of her opportunity.
"She's never really had that pressure, never been in that situation before this season, and she has just been so fun to coach," Rew said.
But Hohn got hurt doing a floor exercise routine in November 2024, and ironically, it's the event she's improved the most in the last two years, she said. Her season-best is 9.600 set in a home meet in January. She said she's learned to help lean on the team's veteran members when she needs advice or a boost of confidence.
"She's worked so hard to get where she's at," Prunty said. "She had a really big knee injury last year, which took her out of basically everything. Even this year, just being able to vault with her again this year, she's been a huge part of our team on vault and every event, and I'm just really excited for the type of season she's having."
"You give her a correction, and she wants to make it right away," Rew said. "And it's hard because the stuff she's doing and changing, it's not easy. She's stuck to it and just turned into a great, great leader of the team. ... There's so many things she brings to the team that I'm super happy about."
Hohn said she's looking forward to getting the chance to take part in the team and individual portions of the state meet, and let the hard work put in over the course of the season shine through.
"We want to take it all in and enjoy the moments as a team, and we want to make sure we're competing with confidence and being strong, and just try to keep the energy up throughout the competition," Hohn said.
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Instead, it's proof of a tough comeback for Hohn, who injured her knee in the preseason two years ago and has returned to be one of the key Kernels in the state meet lineup.
"It was hard. It was definitely hard not being able to do the sport that I've done my whole life," Hohn said. "Coming back, my teammates definitely were a big part of that. My mom (Allison) was so supportive, and my physical therapist is helping me through some things. Just coming back to gymnastics, I was just focusing on the right mindset to get me going again."
Because of her youth and then the injury as a freshman, this will be Hohn's first state high school meet. As an eighth-grader in 2023-24, Mitchell coach Audra Rew said Hohn was still learning many of the basics of high school gymnastics and was competing on the Kernels' junior varsity.
"She worked really hard that summer after eighth grade, and got all kinds of skills. We were so excited," Rew said. "And then we got to the first day of (her freshman) season and she was out for the whole season."
Hohn, a Kernel sophomore, competes on vault, beam and floor exercise. Vault is her best event, posting a 9.475 as her top score at Sioux Falls Lincoln on Jan. 24. That ranks third-best on the Kernel roster behind seniors Kyanna Gropper and Olivia Prunty, and fifth-best among all Class AA gymnasts.
Mitchell had seven seniors on its varsity roster last season, which made positions crowded in the lineup. Hohn had another year to observe and learn and prepare, and now she's taken advantage of her opportunity.
"She's never really had that pressure, never been in that situation before this season, and she has just been so fun to coach," Rew said.
But Hohn got hurt doing a floor exercise routine in November 2024, and ironically, it's the event she's improved the most in the last two years, she said. Her season-best is 9.600 set in a home meet in January. She said she's learned to help lean on the team's veteran members when she needs advice or a boost of confidence.
"She's worked so hard to get where she's at," Prunty said. "She had a really big knee injury last year, which took her out of basically everything. Even this year, just being able to vault with her again this year, she's been a huge part of our team on vault and every event, and I'm just really excited for the type of season she's having."
"You give her a correction, and she wants to make it right away," Rew said. "And it's hard because the stuff she's doing and changing, it's not easy. She's stuck to it and just turned into a great, great leader of the team. ... There's so many things she brings to the team that I'm super happy about."
Hohn said she's looking forward to getting the chance to take part in the team and individual portions of the state meet, and let the hard work put in over the course of the season shine through.
"We want to take it all in and enjoy the moments as a team, and we want to make sure we're competing with confidence and being strong, and just try to keep the energy up throughout the competition," Hohn said.
Continue reading...
