Lake Central sophomore Andi Wartman has the talent to excel in gymnastics.
It's simply a matter of refining that talent and increasing the level of confidence in her abilities, something Wartman has been able to do this season.
"I was kind of timid last year," she said. "This year, I'm willing to try new things."
That aggressiveness has paid dividends this season.
"It was new to her, too, in all fairness," L.C. coach Bryan Yancy said of last season. "Some of the things we did, they were introduced to her. For her to score 8.85s on vault and have a really high vault total, to me, that's impressive. This year, her going for more has helped her floor exercise. She's looking stronger, and the scores are showing it."
In a recent dual meet against Merrillville, Wartman scored a 9.05 on floor, her best score of the season, and an 8.85 on vault. She ended with a season-best all-around score of 31.875.
Given the fact that Wartman also competes on Lake Central's girls track team in the pole vault and 200-meter dash, her gymnastics scores are impressive.
Wartman said she owes a lot of her improvement to Lake Central's current seniors -- Jackie Schymanski, Brittany Vanek and Emily Costello.
"I do other sports, but they push me hard in this sport," Wartman said. "They make it more fun to do. They make me do more things, and the results are much better than if I didn't have them."
Yancy recognizes that Wartman is a big part of the future of his team for the next two years, especially with the three seniors graduating after this season.
"It's important for me to see Andi step into that role, because as a coach you're always looking forward," he said. "What I'm excited about is to have her be at that level now while (the seniors) are still here, to kind of build up on that base."
This season, Wartman has goals to improve on her beam and bars routines and lose her timidness on those events, as well.
However, Yancy has different thoughts for her long term success.
"I think if she can dial down and focus in competition, just being a sophomore, by her senior year I don't see a reason why she can't go to the state meet," he said. "She should be going to state and showing her gymnastics. Especially floor exercise, to me, is on that level right now. It's a showcase event for her."
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