Nickel Shines, Angola Bests Wawasee
ANGOLA — Gymnastics fans will be in for a real treat if Alex Nickel continues on her current pace. The two-time defending state champion was in prime form Tuesday night, leading Angola to a 104.2-94.3 win over Wawasee.
Nickel, the 2012 state champion on bars and beam and runner-up in the all-around scoring, was super sharp Tuesday easily taking first in all five scoring columns. Nickel totaled a 38.35 in all-around totals, which spread out a 9.7 on floor, 9.6 on bars, 9.55 on vault and 9.5 on beam.
Teammate Bailey Hinman was second on vault with an 8.85 and on beam with a 9.0.
Wawasee’s Kim Garber took second place on the floor with an 8.75 and teammate Emily Allen was third on vault with an 8.45 and again third on floor with an 8.5.
Hamilton’s Alex Cool participated as a soloist, and scored a 9.4 on vault, 8.575 on bars, 8.55 on beam and 8.95 on floor to score a 35.475 all-around tally. Cool is eligible to participate as an individual at the Wawasee Sectional in March.
“This was our first dual meet and we were excited to meet with Angola who is in our sectional,” stated Wawasee head coach Nika Prather. “Our team score improved (from last Thursday) by one point, which is good news. We reached some goals, made some improvements in several areas.”
Wawasee will not catch much of a break with the scheduling, having to hit the road again Thursday at an always tough Fort Wayne Carroll.
“Carroll will be tough, but we hope to keep moving in the right direction,” Prather said.