Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SYRACUSE -ÊWawasee junior Lindsay Olson missed much of the season with an ankle injury, but anyone who watched her in the Wawasee Gymnastics Sectional Saturday afternoon could tell that she didn't let it bother her.
Olson won the all-around competition, the vault competition and the bars competition to lead the Warriors to their second straight sectional title. She also placed third on the beam and fifth in the floor exercise to round out the day.
"Lindsay is just coming back from an injury, and she was ill last week and missed school on Thursday," said Wawasee coach Nika Prather. "She only started vaulting last week. Until then she had not been on the vault at all. Her ankle still hurts, but she is a fierce competitor."
The Warriors placed first with a score of 103.5 over second-place Plymouth's 95.1 and third-place Elkhart Memorial's 88.05. The top three teams advance to Friday's regional competition in Valparaiso.
"It's a good score, 103.5 is a good score," said Prather. "But it will not get us out of the regional Friday. Only the top two teams advance from the regional, and four of the top teams in the state will be there. It is a very competitive regional."
Olson was not the only Wawasee gymnast to fare well at the sectional. Sophomore Hannah Marshall won the floor exercise competition and placed second in the vault and beam events to add to the Warrior success. Marshall's scores put her in the third spot in the all-around competition witha total of 34.8 points.
Senior Cari VanLue placed fourth in the all-around competition with a score of 33.25. She was fourth in the vault and beam competitions and fifth on the bars.
"Cari has done really well on the floor exercise all year, and she had a really good shot at winning it," said Prather. "She worked very hard to improve all season, but she had a couple falls on the floor. It was very disappointing for her."
Warsaw placed sixth overall in the team competition with ascore of 84.0. Freshman Katie Kusserow led the Tigers with a ninth-place finish on the bars, an 11th-place finish on the beam and an 11th-place all-around finish.
"Katie Kusserow was our high scorer for the day," said Warsaw coach Carole Miller. "I can only ask the team to do their best, and they tried very hard. We have a lot of freshmen on the squad, so we are looking forward to next year."
Manchester also competed in the Wawasee Sectional. The Squires placed ninth with a score of 63.6.
"With a small, relatively inexperienced team, it's very difficcult to place well at sectionals, especially against the large teams who do gymnastics year-round," said Manchester coach Don Osborne. "It's been a long season, but the girls gave everything they had and you can't ask for anything more than that."
Wawasee hits the road Friday to compete in the regional at Valparaiso. The Warriors will take to the floor at 5 p.m. EST.
WAWASEE GYMNASTICS SECTIONAL
Team scores - 1. Wawasee 103.8, 2. Plymouth 95.1, 3. Elkhart Memorial 88.05, 4. West Noble 87.2, 5. East Noble 86.3, 6. Warsaw 84.0, 7. Elkhart Central 71.75, 8. Lakeland 65.45, 9. Manchester 63.6, 10. Prairie Heights 32.9, 11. Tippecanoe Valley 31.55
Vault -Ê1. Lindsay Olson (Waw) 9.15, 2. Hannah Marchall (Waw), 3. Twilight Wolfinger (Waw), 4. (tie) Emily Corpe (EM), Cari VanLue (Waw), 6. (tie) Amy Kinney (WN), Cari Moreno (EC)
Other local finishers -Ê9. Katie Kusserow (War), 10. Carolyn Scripture (TV), 12. Tomoko Kawata (War)
Bars - 1. Lindsay Olson (Waw) 9.0, 2. Brooke Newman (PH), 3. Emily Corpe (EM), 4. Kourtney Beckham (Ply), 5. Cari VanLue (Waw), 6. Brittany Lee (Ply)
Other local finishers - 7. Hannah Marshall (Waw), 9. Carolyn Scripture (TV), 10. Kim Bucher (Man), 11. Andrea Cahoun (War)
Beam -Ê1. Hannah Marshall (Waw) 9.1, 2. Emily Corpe (EM), 3. Lindsay Olson (Waw), 4. Cari VanLue (Waw), 5. Carolyn Scripture (TV), 6. Amy Kinney (WN)
Other local finishers -Ê11. Katie Kusserow (War)
Floor -Ê1. Hannah Marshall (Waw) 8.9, 2. Jessica Vervynckt (Ply), 3. Brooke Newman (PH), 4. Emily Corpe (EM), 5. Lindsay Olson (Waw), 6. Brittany Lee (Ply)
Other Local finishers - 11. Jodi Buhrt (Waw), 12. Cari VanLue (Waw)
All-Around -ÊLindsay Olson (Waw) 35.6, 2. Emily Corpe (EM), 3. Hannah Marshall (Waw), 4. Cari VanLue (Waw), 5. Brooke Newman (PH), 6. Kourtney Beckham (Ply)
Other local finishers -Ê9. Carolyn Scripture (TV), 11. Katie Kusserow (War)
