LAGRANGE – The unofficial official midpoint of the season happened Saturday for the area gymnastics world with the running of the Lakeland Invite. And a barometer of sorts was established by Wawasee, it means business.

Wawasee finished second to only Fort Wayne Carroll at the annual defacto sectional, where only Carroll is not part of the entire Wawasee sectional field that takes part in the invitational. Carroll was the clear winner at 110.95, but Wawasee scored 106.0 to jump ahead of Elkhart Central’s 105.525 in the pecking order. Warsaw finished sixth at 98.825 in the 11-team field that will all come together again in about a month in Syracuse.

Central, the primary team Wawasee has and will continue to chase as defending sectional champion, has what the Warriors want badly – a sectional title. Wawasee hasn’t won a team title since 2004, and Saturday’s showing lent a nudge to round two of their showdowns. Central won the season-opening Blazer Invite in December, now Wawasee has a little bragging rights. The two will meet Thursday in Syracuse in the third showdown before meeting Feb. 24.

At Lakeland, the Wawasee duo of Reagan Atwood and Jada Parzygnot were able to trump Central’s duo of Analena Vanderzwagg and Skiler Reveal. Atwood was sixth in all-around at 35.85 and Parzygnot right behind at 35.775. Vanderzwagg topped them both at 36.6, and with Reveal’s 34.95, Wawasee had the edge by just .75. The top result from the two Wawasee athletes was a fifth-place, 9.4 on floor by Atwood.

The third scores between the two teams became the difference. Where Central had a .25 edge on vault and .05 on floor, Wawasee had a .4 on bars and .3 on beam, the bars score an 8.375 from Alyssa Minnix and beam an 8.3 from Aundreya Wegener.

Warsaw had Remi Beckham take ninth overall in all-around with a 34.9, her best showing an 8.85 on beam. Daylen Turner had an 8.85 on floor  while Adree Beckham scored  31.45 on all-around.