Wawasee junior Reagan Atwood has made huge strides this season as one of the top gymnastics performers in the state. (Photo by Mike Deak)

SYRACUSE – You didn’t even have to see what was going on in the actual meet. Just watching the reactions of those around her told the tale.

The heavy thud of heels hitting the balance beam, then the foooomph of those heels hitting the padding below drew an uggggh from then manager Ale Brito. Covering her eyes, then peeking to see a little more of the carnage, Brito tried to regain her poise for her friend again, putting together a few claps and a grin as her friend, Reagan Atwood, went through one of the worst gymnastics meets of her career.

By standard, Atwood has since forgotten about the 2016 Huntington North Regional, where a disastrous set of performances left the hungry sophomore out of state contention. Fast forward 11 months, and Atwood is eyeing the state tournament again as a junior, and is as driven as ever.

“Last year I put so much pressure on myself to make it to state,” Atwood said. “Last year I was just so hard on myself during the sectional week, and regional week it was worse. Then I get to regional and start off with things not going my way. It went down hill from there.

“This year I am just taking it meet to meet, and that has helped things a little more. I’m more relaxed and I can just go out and perform.”

Whether its the aftermath of the regional, or just a very good sophomore taking that next step forward into the pinnacle of her high school career, Atwood has quickly become elite.

Atwood’s amazing performance on the floor in the Warsaw meet this season commanded a 9.7, which was a career-high for her and the third-best floor score in the state through last weekend. Her 9.45 on beam against DeKalb is also one of the top 25 efforts in the state. A vault score of 9.0 and bars score of 8.75 have Atwood pegged as one of the top performers coming into the sectional, which should be a wild chase for the top spot on the podium.

“To me, that floor routine felt pretty normal,” Atwood said of her 9.7 floor routine. “I didn’t think it was that special, so when I saw the score I was pretty surprised. I didn’t believe it. (Assistant coach) Sarah (Wegener) had to check the table to make sure it was right.”

The Lakeland Gymnastics Sectional, which will not be held at Wawasee for the first time since Wawasee began hosting sectionals in the early 1970s, will see Wawasee battle with Elkhart Central and possibly three or four others for the team title and a host of quality individuals competing for the colored ribbons. Atwood leads a very energetic Lady Warrior squad to Lakeland, a team that is averaging 103.4 points per meet, the highest per-night total in over a decade. With the likes of sophomores Jada Parzygnot and Alyssa Minnix, along with freshman Aundreya Wegener booked for most of the events and complimented by seniors Haleigh Smarr and Autumn Yoder and juniors Katelyn Baker and Meghan Beer, the club is deep despite its eight active members.

But will the semi-foreign equipment at Lakeland pose a new challenge to Wawasee, which is very used to the home turf at the sectional?

“When we were at the Lakeland Invite (Feb. 11), I said get comfortable,” said Wawasee head coach Nika Prather. “This is where we are going to be. This is the equipment you are going to use. Make a mental note of the meet. Overall, the girls liked the equipment and seemed pretty comfortable there. You don’t have the surroundings like you do at home, being able to spot things in our gym. But that’s not the case at the regional, though, so maybe this will be a good thing.”

Elkhart Central is the two-time defending sectional team champion, and has the athletes to run the table on the podium. Kiara Stabler is the incumbent on the roster, serving as the lead senior with the battle experience. Junior Skiler Reveal and sophomores Abi Downs and Analena Vanderzwaag give Central a formidable core. Elkhart has season numbers all north of nine in every event except bars, but bottom out at 8.85. No other team in the sectional can say that.

All four of the Blazers have posted scores at 9.4 or better on floor.

“We post much better scores on the road that we do at home,” said Elkhart Central head coach Kathy Krauter. “We’re happy that it’s at Lakeland. No disrespect to Wawasee, but we are excited to get to the Lakeland equipment. We’ve done very well there twice this year.”

Warsaw is hoping to crack the top five in the team scores, pushing 100 late in the season. In a jumble with DeKalb, Lakeland and East Noble, those teams should tussle for the third spot should Elkhart and Wawasee perform to standard. Leading the Lady Tigers are sophomore Remi Beckham and freshman Daylen Turner, both with the ability to compete for a top-six spot if they hit to their ability.

The Lakeland Gymnastics Sectional begins Saturday at 11 a.m., with the top three teams along with the top six individuals, team qualifier or otherwise, able to move onto the Huntington North Regional set for March 4.