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SYRACUSE - Saturday's gymnastics regional at Wawasee High School went much like Warrior coach Nika Prather said it probably would.
Prather said in an interview last week that with three of the top five teams in the state competing at the Wawasee Regional, Valparaiso, Chesterton and Merrillville, things would be tough, so her team's goal was to score higher than the other teams that competed in the Wawasee Sectional, especially Warsaw.
The Warriors had beaten Warsaw two times previous to the sectionals, but the Tigers came away with the championship. Saturday Wawasee just barely edged out Warsaw in total team points to take fourth place with 93.7 points. Warsaw finished fifth with 93.35 points. Valparaiso took the top spot with 110.2 points and is the only team from the Wawasee Regional to advance to Saturday's state finals at Perry Meridian High School in Indianapolis. Chesterton and Merrillville took second and third with 106.8 and 103.9 points respectively.
"I'm pleased with the girls' performance, even though we hosted it, because of the level of gymnasts there," said Prather. "Angie Beer's goal was to score higher in the all-around competition than the other competitors from our sectional."
Beer scored 34.15 points in the all-around competition and barely topped Warsaw's Jillian Letsch who scored 34 points.
Letsch outscored Beer on the beam to place fourth, and she is the first Warsaw gymnast ever to advance to the state finals. Letsch totaled 8.6 in the event, Beer placed 13th with 8.1 points. The top six in each event advance to the state finals.
"Jillian had one of the nicest beam routines I've seen all year," said Warsaw coach Amanda Campbell. "It really payed off. She placed fourth. And with the teams that were there, that's really good. She's the first Warsaw gymnast ever to move on to state."
Prather said on the phone Sunday afternoon that she was a little disappointed at Beer's score on the beam for one reason: While Beer was finishing her routine, a competitor on the vault injured a knee on her landing and yelled out loud and apparently distracted Beer, causing her to fall off the beam.
"Had she stayed on (the beam), I think Angie would've had an 8.6 like Jillian did," said Prather. "I talked to the judges to see what could be done. They did discuss it (another chance) but said no. The judges did confer but that's the way it is. I'm disappointed because I think she could have done better."
Though no Wawasee gymnasts advanced to the state finals, except for Beer as an alternate on bars, she seemed to be pleased that her team scored higher their local rival Warsaw.
"We knew we could, we did it twice," said Prather. "We had to prove it to ourselves. We're glad we beat the teams in our sectionals. Overall I'm pleased. I just wish we were going to state, but I'm very happy for Jillian and Amanda. I hope they do well in representing our sectional and regional."
Letsch will compete Saturday at 1 p.m. at Perry Meridian High School in Indianapolis.
WAWASEE GYMNASTICS REGIONAL RESULTS
Team Scores - 1. Valparaiso 110.2, 2. Chesterton 106.8, 3. Merrillville 103.8, 4. Wawasee 93.7, 5. Warsaw 93.35, 6. Plymouth 90.6, 7. Elkhart Central 36.45, 8. Hobart 36.05, 9. East Noble 15.3, 10. Portage 9.5, 11. Crown Point 9.45, 12. Penn 7.7, 13. Elkhart Memorial 7.1.
Individual Scores (Top six advance)
Vault - 1. Aimee Melody (V) 9.5, 2. Ellison Tipton (V) 9.5, 3. Lisa Walters (C) 4. Brittany Laidlaw (C), 5. Kristen Chentnik (C), 6. Lisa Fastero (M), 9. Angie Beer (Wawa) 8.6, 11. Jillian Letsch (War) 8.4, 12. Katie Brown (Wawa) 8.4, 19. Lisa Ummel (Wawa) 8.05, 21. Callie Edginton (War) 8.0, 22. Amanda Rice (War) 7.9, 26. Katie Millar (Wawa) 7.4, 27. Shyloh Hoy (War) 6.85.
Floor - 1. Tipton (V) 9.75, 2. Melody (V) 9.65, 3. Lindsay Easton (PO) 9.5, 4. Fastero (M) 9.5, 5. Lisa Diedrich (CP) 9.45, 6. Jenny Covington (H) 9.3, 11. Beer (Wawa) 8.8, 12. Letsch (War) 8.8, 23. Edginton (War) 7.6, 24. Brown (Wawa) 7.6, 25. Ummel (Wawa) 7.6, 27. Rice (War) 7.5, 29. Hoy (War) 5.5, 30. Millar (Wawa) 5.0.
Beam - 1. Tipton (V) 9.65, 2. Covington (H) 9.4, 3. Jill Magnuson (V) 9.15, 4. Letsch (War) 8.6, 5. Chentnik (C) 8.55, 6. Melissa Vargas (M) 8.5, 13. Beer (Wawa) 8.1, 16. Edgington (War) 7.4, 20. Rice (War) 6.8, 21. Brown (Wawa) 6.75, 22. Hoy (War) 6.75, 23. Millar (Wawa) 6.65, 24. Ummel (Wawa) 6.2.
Bars - 1. Tipton (V) 9.45, 2. Walters (C) 9.35, 3. Riannon Ramos (M) 9.1, 4. Melody (V) 9.05, 5. Megan Skorupa (M) 8.8, 6. Melissa Leaf (C) 8.8, 7. Beer (Wawa) 8.65, 14. Letsch (War) 8.2, 15. Edginton (War) 8.2, 17. Ummel (Wawa) 7.6, 19. Brown (Wawa) 6.9, 23. Millar (Wawa) 6.7, 26. Rice (War) 5.95, 27. Hoy (War) 4.6.
All Around - 1. Tipton (V) 38.35, 2. Melody (V) 36.45, 3. Walters (C) 36.2, 4. Covington (H) 36.05, 5. Fastero (M) 36.3, 6. Laidlaw (C) 35.15, 6. Chentnik (C), 9. Beer (Wawa) 34.15, 10. Letsch (War) 34, 12. Edgington (War) 31.2, 14. Brown (Wawa) 29.65, 15. Ummel (Wawa) 29.45, 18. Rice (War) 28.15, 19. Millar (Wawa) 25.75, 22. Hoy (War) 23.7.
