Published: Jan. 22, 2014
Getting into swing of it
West’s Wanie returns from injury
By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News Sports Editor
Amanda Wanie is already in mid-season form. Well, sort of.
The West Bend West junior scored an 8.6 on uneven bars in
her first varsity competition of the season. It was good for second place in
West’s victory over West Bend East on Tuesday night, 135.1-127.45.
It was a season-high score for the Spartans.
Wanie has been slowed by a stress fracture in her right leg
so far this season.
Last week against Hartford, she competed on uneven bars in
the junior varsity meet.
“(It’s) good having Amanda back and getting her back in and
doing something,” West coach Jackie Vorpahl said.
Wanie also competed on balance beam, where she scored an 8.375,
but in a routine that was scaled back as she continues to ease back into full
competition mode.
“It feels good,” Wanie said of her leg.
“I just don’t want to push it too hard the first time,” she
added.
West’s Bailey Wagner swept the meet, winning each of the
four individual events and the allaround.
Wagner scored a 9.2 on vault, 8.625 on bars, 9.05 on beam
and 9.025 on floor exercise.
East’s Paige Bintz had a personal- best score on floor to
take second in that event (8.55). Also for East, Zoey Roberts was second on
beam (8.45) and tied for second on vault with teammate Storey Forster (8.5).
“That was amazing,” East coach Haley Neja said of Bintz’s
floor routine. “I was very happy with it.”
Roberts was third in the allaround with a 32.2, behind Wagner
(35.9) and West’s Katelyn Butters (32.3).
“Zoey was great tonight,” Neja said. “She was solid on every
event she did. It was so nice to have solid routines on all four events
tonight.
“Taking third place in the allaround, we needed that out of
her. It was nice to see her step up.”
East’s team score was its second- highest tally of the
season, trailing Saturday’s score at the Homestead Invitational where the Suns
took ninth place out of 13 teams with a 127.725.
“They are getting better,” Neja said.
“It seems like it’s halfway through the season, but we
haven’t gotten started,” she added. “I still have huge goals; still have high
expectations.”
Not being able to compete was starting to frustrate Wanie,
the reigning Wisconsin Little Ten Conference Gymnast of the Year.
It wasn’t until about three weeks ago when Wanie was able to
start practicing. She admitted she was a bit rusty, but it felt good knowing
she was getting closer to being able to help her teammates.
That was the most excruciating part about waiting for the
injury to heal.
She had a big smile after Tuesday’s meet as it was a load
lifted off her shoulders.
“I didn’t know I was doing varsity coming into this meet,”
Wanie said. “Maybe that was a good thing because I didn’t feel like I had much
time to get nervous.”
“At this point, I just really want to help my team as much
as I can,” she added. “That’s my goal right now. I’ve had to watch everyone do
what I want to do.”
Last week against Hartford, Wanie scored just a 6.45 on
bars.
Wanie’s 8.6 on the bars Tuesday came on her first varsity
event of the season. It was an impressive score, especially when it’s compared
to a healthy Wanie at this time last year.
In last year’s East-West meet, Wanie scored an 8.2 on the
bars. And one year ago against Waupun, she scored an 8.55. At state, she scored
an 8.9 in the individual competition and 9.0 at team state.
With Wanie back in the lineup, which she and her coach hopes
will be in the all-around in a week or two, the Spartans got a boost, Vorpahl
said.
The plan is to hopefully add floor to Wanie’s regimen next
week and then vault the next week.
Like Wanie, Vorpahl was tired of waiting, and Vorpahl
challenged one of her captains.
“I decided we’re done. We’re done holding back,” Vorpahl
said. “Be a leader like you’re supposed to be; you’re a captain. Step up there
and do what you need to do. That’s what I told her and that’s what she did.”
And for Wanie to be ahead of last year in her first time out
was a big plus.
“That’s a positive for her,” Vorpahl said. “She now knows
she can do it.”
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