By RICH TORRES
NOBLESVILLE – Olivia Mangin understands frustration — and how to conquer it.
Four years ago, discontent all but sapped her motivation and nearly spelled the end of her gymnastics career. Facing a “mental block” at 13, Mangin, a competitor for 12 years, purposely walked away from the sport she once loved, but she didn’t wander too far.
She just had to rediscover her passion.
The Noblesville junior needed a break, and once she returned, she figured out the secret.
Stop worrying.
“There was a time when I didn’t really want to do it anymore,” Mangin said. “But then I came back to do high school, and I kind of took off from there.”
Her drive and redefined approach came into play on Monday night during the Noblesville gymnastics team’s season opener against Western at home.
As the last competitor on floor – for the Millers’ final event – Mangin shimmied her shoulders and let it all go. She nailed every flip, slamming down both feet with strong compact and powerful intent. Her swagger and gracefulness intertwined for a feisty, yet smooth delivery.
Her smile was transparent.
“You should enjoy your sport. You shouldn’t hate coming to practice every day,” Mangin said. “You should always be happy about what you’re doing.”
With three Millers gymnasts sideline due to potentially season-ending injuries, the pressure should have crept in for Mangin with Noblesville in a dead heat with Western prior to her final routine.
Instead, she push past the team’s personnel setbacks to propel the short-handed Millers to an 80.050-78.925 win after posting a 7.850, which was good enough for second on floor.
Mangin finished third on bars with a 6.300, fourth on the balance beam with a 6.375 and third on the vault at 8.300 to place fourth in the all around with a 28.825.
“I wanted to lift our team up and just make sure that they knew the injuries don’t matter. We can still come together as a team and support them that way,” Mangin said. “Since we had other girls have to step up, I wanted to give them confidence in what they can do.”
The Millers followed Mangin’s lead. Fellow junior Kayleigh Sahr placed fifth on vault, bars and on floor while Kiley Reisner, a freshman, was sixth on vault, fifth on beam and ninth on floor.
Noblesville entered the season with hopes of having sophomore Makayla Kauzlick, a regional qualifier on both the beam and vault last year, and senior Devyn Palmer active. However, a back injury for Palmer and groin tendinitis for Kauzlick have both sidelined for the foreseeable future.
The Millers also lost promising freshman Hailey Knoll to a potential stress fracture, which she suffered last week.
“We are plagued with injuries to begin the season, but I’d rather deal with them at the beginning of the season than the end of the season,” Noblesville head coach Jody Ramey said. “There were first meet jitters here tonight. I’d like to see our team score come up from where it is. It’s tough as a head coach because this the first time I’ve seen our score in the low 80s since 2004. It’s been a long time. I know every sports team has those ups and downs, but it’s the injuries that’s got us right now.”
The Millers have just enough gymnasts on the roster to tally a team score with only three athletes competing on beam and bars, leaving little room for further complications, let alone another injury.
That fact loomed large as the Millers rallied to win their first meet of the year after winning 17 duals a year ago and placing fifth at the Lafayette Jefferson Sectional.
“I knew vault was going to go well for us. We’re used to sitting at about 25, 26 on vault for a team score, so being at a 24, vault is not my worry,” Ramey said. “Again, giving the injuries bars and beam are going to hurt big time. Floor we roped some connections, and I’d like to see the team score go up and it will.”
Noblesville scored a 24.350 on vault, 15.750 on bars and 18.000 on beam. Their compiled 21.950 on floor was the difference.
Lapel’s Madi Carpenter helped along the way, winning the all around with a 34.550. Carpenter placed first in all four events. Brebeuf Jesuit’s Sydney Gallagher finished second in the all around with a 30.025, built from runner-up placements on vault and bars. She was third on beam and floor. Both competed as individuals during the meet.
Western’s Katie Devine was third in the all around with a 29.075 and Anna Grobengeiser was fifth at 24.200. Mangin’s efforts and Western’s 14.900 on bars and 21.450 on floor secured the Millers’ victory.
“We wanted to do our best despite everything that’s happened and enjoy it,” Mangin said. “Not to say we have low expectations, but I think everybody just wanted to have fun in spite of that, do our best and do what we can do, making sure we still have fun with it and coming back from our downfalls.”
Next up for the Millers is a trip to The Gymnastics Company on Saturday for a three-way meet with Franklin Central and Roncalli at 10 a.m.
Team Scores: Noblesville 80.050, Western 78.925, Brebeuf Jesuit 0.00, Lapel 0.00.
Noblesville Event Results
Beam
1. Olivia Mangin 6.375 (4th)
2. Kiley Reisner 6.075 (5th)
3. Ella Deno 5.550 (7th)
Floor
1. Olivia Mangin 7.850 (2nd)
2. Kayleigh Sahr 7.150 (5th)
3. Cailey Hurst 6.950 (8th)
4. Kiley Reisner 6.800 (9th)
5. Ella Deno 6.650 (10th)
Bars
1. Olivia Mangin 6.300 (3rd)
2. Kayleigh Sahr 5.900 (5th)
3. Racheal Glasener 3.550 (8th)
Vault
1. Olivia Mangin 8.300 (3rd)
2. Kayleigh Sahr 8.050 (5th)
3. Kiley Reisner 8.000 (6th)
4. Ella Deno 7.800 (n/a)
4. Cailey Hurst 7.500 (10th)
6. Racheal Glasener 7.400 (11th)
All Around
1. Madi Carpenter, Lapel 34.550
2. Sydney Gallagher, Brebeuf 30.025
3. Katie Devine, Western 29.075
4. Olivia Mangin, Noblesville 28.825
5. Anna Grobengeiser, Western 24.200
Noblesville’s Olivia Mangin finished fourth in the all-around and placed in all four events during the Millers’ season-opening meet on Monday. Mangin’s highest finish was second in the floor exercise, also placing third on vault (pictured) and the bars. (Kent Graham)
Noblesville’s Ella Deno performs on the balance beam.
Click here for more images. (Kirk Green)