Still Chasing The Carrot
SYRACUSE – One of the more memorable, yet forgettable, moments of Wawasee’s 2017-18 season happened on their watch. Seniors Jada Parzygnot and Alyssa Minnix are bound to leave their gymnastics fans, and themselves, in better moods this tournament season.
The two have vowed to make right on a true teaching moment last season after a collapse at the sectional. Minnix went down with an ankle injury on the floor, which then saw Parzygnot miss a skill on her floor pass and then-senior Reagan Atwood stumble on her routine. Those unfortunate events for the Lady Warriors saw Elkhart Central rocket past Wawasee to claim the sectional title, leaving a seriously bad taste in the mouths of the hosts. It also continued Wawasee’s sectional drought, without a championship since 2004.
While it still reached the regional tourney as a team as the sectional runner-up, Wawasee didn’t look like it recovered in a sixth-place finish, with just Atwood qualifying for state as an individual.
Now in their final runs as seniors, Parzygnot has the look of an extremely motivated headliner while Minnix is confident she will bounce back from the injury and show the promise she has exhibited in the past.
“Much of last year not ending well was mind over matter,” Parzygnot said of the end of her junior campaign. “With what happened to Alyssa at the sectional, I can’t explain it even now, it just affected us in the wrong way. We all fell apart at the wrong time. I tried to throw in some new skills on the floor and it wasn’t the right time looking back on it. You just live and learn.”
“I’m just expecting more of myself this year,” Minnix said. “When I think about being a senior and being a captain for the team, there is more expected of me and more I need to be for the others on the team.”
Parzygnot has elevated to a showstopper, routinely hitting scores in the high eights and nines on a consistent basis. Her floor routine commanded the biggest scores as a junior, reaching mid-nine status, and her bars and beam scores were consistently getting nines from the judges. Vault had Parzygnot also hovering above nine for much of the season.
Fine tuning those skills has been Parzygnot’s focus coming into senior year.
“I’m wanting to do more new things, throw new things especially on vault and beam,” Parzygnot said. “Everything seemed like a jumble and I didn’t reach the level I felt like I should have. I feel like if I can clean some of the easier things, perfect some things, then I can add some big skills and go for broke.”
Minnix is one of the athletes Wawasee head coach Nika Prather has had high hopes on for some time. While injuries have been part of Minnix’s history, when healthy, Minnix has been a shining star. Prather’s endorsement included, “She has all the ability in the world. She has a beautiful dance routine and can do it all when she puts her mind to it.”
Minnix points to floor as her place to polish up heading into the LaPorte Pairs, where Wawasee opens its season Dec. 15. Wawasee’s home opener is Jan. 15 hosting West Noble at its new home, the old Syracuse Elementary School on the north side of the railroad.
“I’ve tried to do some of the little things to be better prepared coming into the year,” Minnix said. “I’ve taped my ankles to help with them, they are a little weak. I’ve eaten a little better. Just trying to work harder at the skills I’m not 100 percent confident in. Gymnastics is a sport where you go all the way, you can’t just wait for things to come to you, you have to be confident.”
Wawasee has just one junior and four freshmen to round out its roster. The lone junior, Aundreya Wegener, is a three-year returner who was incredibly improved from start to finish last season, becoming a solid No. 3 on the roster a year ago. Wegener will be an all-arounder this year, with beam and floor the stronger of her disciplines.
Wawasee’s remainder are all freshmen. Prather will use the month of December to evaluate the skills of Katlin Van Fleeren, Talia Kuhl, Ari Yoder and Kenady Meerzo to see how they will fit into the puzzle.
“I’m very optimistic about this season,” Prather said. “We have three great girls coming back and some very promising freshmen. I’m very encouraged because the three returners had very successful seasons last year. They are looking at this year like anything and everything they didn’t accomplish, now is their time to get it done. And the younger girls are watching and learning from them.”