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SYRACUSE -ÊAlthough gymnasts from both Wawasee and Manchester were battling illness Monday, the Squires and Warriors faced off in a meet in Syracuse. Wawasee prevailed 94.7-81.5.
However, the meet was nearly tied after the first two events. Once the vault and uneven bars events were finished, Wawasee held a 45.0-42.9 advantage.
"The first half went extremely well," said Manchester coach Don Osborne. "I was happy with the girls."
But the bars were a problem for just about everyone involved. Each Wawasee gymnast who entered the meet in the uneven bars fell at least once. Several Manchester participants fell on the bars as well.
"Our bars were terrible tonight," said Wawasee coach Nika Prather. "Everyone fell off. That's very unusual for us.
"It's funny, when all the girls fell off my assistant said 'Maybe since they fell off on the bars, they'll stay on the beam.' And it was true. I was thrilled with our beam performances. They were much cleaner, higher, tighter and more controlled."
The balance beam is where the Warriors started to pull ahead. Lindsay Olsen placed first with a score of 8.8, while teammates Katie Millar, Cari VanLue and Jodi Buhrt swept second through fourth places for Wawasee.
The Warrior success on the beam carried over to the floor exercise. Again, Wawasee swept places one through four. Lindsay Olsen got her highest score of the night, a 9.0, on the floor exercise.
"Overall, we did well," said Prather. "We added some new skills on the floor, the bars and the beam. We really focused on the beam and the floor Friday night and didn't really work on the bars. I think that showed tonight."
Although Wawasee performed well in the last half of the meet, the Squires struggled a bit.
"We did well in the first half of the meet," said Osborne. "But the second half was a different story.
"We have been sick all week. We even canceled a couple practices because so many girls were sick. That had an effect on our performance tonight. As sick as we were, overall we did a good job."
Lindsay Olsen won all four events and the all-around competition to lead the Warriors. Katie Millar and Cari VanLue placed second and third, respectively, in the all-around competition.
Tina French was Manchester's top all-around finisher, placing fourth. Marie Weller placed fifth in the all-around, while Kim Bucher was sixth.
The win improves Wawasee's record to 6-4, while Manchester falls to 2-3. The Warriors host Huntington North at 6 p.m. Thursday, while Manchester travels to Plymouth Thursday.
WAWASEE 94.7, MANCHESTER 81.5
Vault -Ê1. Lindsay Olsen (W) 7.9; 2. Marie Weller (M); 3. Katie Millar (W); 4. Twilight Wolfinger (W); 5. Cari VanLue (W); 6. Kim Bucher (M); 7. Brandie Miller (W); 8. Tina French (M); 9. Jennifer Hileman (M)
Bars -Ê1. Olsen (W) 7.9; 2. French (M); 3. Bucher (M); 4. Millar (W); 5. VanLue; 6. Weller (M); 7. Jessica Evilsizor (W); 8. Hileman
Beam -Ê1. Olson (W) 8.8; 2. Millar (W); 3. VanLue (W); 4. Jodi Buhrt (W); 5. Weller (M); 6. (tie) French (M), Carrie Becker (W); 8. Bucher (M); 9. Hileman (M)
Floor Exercise -Ê1. Olsen (W) 9.0; 2. VanLue (W); 3. Millar (W); 4. Buhrt (W); 5. French (M); 6. Weller (M); 7. Bucher (M); 8. Becker (W); 9. Hileman (M)
All-Around -Ê1. Olson (W) 34.35; 2. Millar (W); 3. VanLue (W); 4. French (M); 5. Weller (M); 6. Bucher (M)
JV -ÊWAWASEE 47.8, MANCHESTER 16.7
Vault -Ê1. Jodi Buhrt (W) 6.6; 2. Rachel Penrod (M); 3. Amber Penrod (M)
Beam -Ê1. Jocelyn Jones (W) 6.7; 2. Jessica Evilsizor (W); 3. Twilight Wolfinger (W); 4. Kari Kuhn (W); 5. Brandie Miller (W); 6. Rachel Penrod (M)
Floor Exercise - 1. Kari Kuhn (W) 7.7; 2. Wolfinger (W); 3. Evilsizor (W); 4. Jones (W); 5. Miller (W); 6. Amber Penrod (M)
*no bars or all-around
