North Oconee gymnasts go for seventh consecutive title at state meet

Credit: Michael Gonyea, Home Game Hero

Credit: Michael Gonyea, Home Game Hero

North Oconee is the top seed in the lower classification, followed by Bremen, Bowdon, East Forsyth, Union Grove, Westminster, Cambridge and Ola.

North Forsyth is the top seed in the larger classification, which includes teams from Class 5A and 6A, followed by Forsyth Central, Carrollton, Walton, defending champion Buford, South Forsyth, West Forsyth and East Coweta

North Oconee coach Hillary Sanders had no background in gymnastics when approached to take the job. She was a dancer and cheerleader in high school and is the school’s cheerleading coach but was agreeable to the challenge.

North Oconee started with a couple of “retired gymnasts,” a term that refers to girls with experience on a club team who still have the skills but opted to back away from the 24/7 commitment to the sport. The team had some success, but participation was dwindling until 2017, when some girls who were actively training got involved.

“That was when we really started to see that spark of not just retired girls who were interested in the program but actively training girls wanting to be in the program,” Sanders said. “Gymnasts train so much, and they spend so much time in the gym. I don’t want to say that gymnastics becomes their life, but there’s not a lot of time for high school activities or social activities. Being part of the high school team they can do both. And the rest is history.”

Credit: Michael Gonyea, Home Game Hero

Credit: Michael Gonyea, Home Game Hero

North Oconee’s break came in 2017 when Savannah Schoenherr, a national-level competitor decided to join the high school team. Schoenherr went on to star at the University of Florida and Louisiana State University.

“She decided she wanted to be on the team, and she talked it up to the other girls in her gym about how awesome and fun it was,” Sanders said. “She showed you could be successful at the high school level and the club level. She set the tone.”

After Schoenherr graduated it was Elena Arenas, the 2019 Junior Olympic national champion, who carried the flag. Her mother, Kim, was a gymnast at University of Georgia. Elena went on to star at LSU.

From there, the success has snowballed. Interest in gymnastics is already high in the greater Athens area because of Georgia’s success at the NCAA level. And there are numerous high level club teams like Georgia Elite Gymnastics, Leading Edge Gymnastics and Oconee Gymnastics who produce top talent. North Oconee just added the extra ingredient of enjoyment.

“The girls recruit themselves by having fun,” Sanders said. “I always sound like a broken record when I say this, but I want the high school gymnastics team to be fun. It can get stressful when they’re training for their club team. There’s a lot of pressure. For high school gymnasts, execute it well and have fun with it, cheering each other on and having fun each season.”

This year there are 17 girls on the North Oconee varsity team. This year’s team is younger and features four-year senior Emory Shepherd, sophomore Emma Howells and freshmen Fabiana Pombo and Ava Arenas, Elena’s sister.

Howells is the defending state champion in the vault and bars and finished second on the beam. The Titans graduated two girls who scored points last year — Gabby Nguyen and Ella Hawkins.

The GHSA conducted gymnastics championships in an open classification until splitting into two divisions in 2019. In the ensuing six years — not counting the 2020 season that was canceled because of COVID-19 — the lower division has been dominated by North Oconee (five consecutive titles) and Buford has dominated the larger classification, winning the past three.