LIGONIER – Just days ahead of the Wawasee Sectional, the Lady Warriors gymnasts gave their injured crew another night to rest and some younger athletes a chance to perform on the big stage one more time. A 96.65-92.55 win by Wawasee over West Noble in the final regular season dual for both clubs was filled with cautious optimism with the sectional looming Saturday morning.

West Noble’s Amanda Huntsman and Reagan Atwood went toe-to-toe in the spotlight, and the two had the unenviable circumstance of tying in three events. Both competitors scored an 8.6 on vault, 8.4 on beam and 8.95 on floor. Atwood won the bars with an 8.6 to Huntsman’s 8.1, giving the Wawasee freshman the 34.55 all-around edge.

Wawasee’s Ashleigh Frecker added a pair of formidable scores in an 8.0 on beam and 8.4 on floor, the latter which Wawasee has lacked a second high floor score all season. Frecker also had an 8.2 on vault, while teammate Deea Coy had an 8.4 on vault.

The Lady Warriors did not enter either Taylor Busse or Molly Smith in any events Monday as both have been healing from injuries suffered two weeks ago. Wawasee head coach Nika Prather chose to rest both ahead of sectionals, where both will be needed if Wawasee wants to compete for a regional team position.

“We were hoping to end our season on a high note, with a victory,” began Prather. “We were successful and that gives us confidence going into the sectional championships this Saturday. Taylor and Molly are still out of the lineup, but we hope to have them back by Saturday’s meet.”

Wawasee had four different gymnasts lead an event in the final junior varsity competitions of the season Monday night. Katelyn Baker took honors on vault at 7.8, Hannah Potulney had a 5.4 on bars, Kalynn Workman scored 6.6 on beam and Meghan Beer finished at 7.6 on floor.

The Wawasee Gymnastics Sectional will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday in the annex gym at Wawasee High School. Competing schools will include defending champion DeKalb, Angola, Elkhart Central, East Noble, Lakeland, Plymouth, Warsaw, Wawasee, West Noble and Westview.

The top six athletes in each event as well as the top three teams will move on to the Huntington North Regional March 13.