The Prior Lake High School gymnastics team is headed to state after winning the section tournament on Feb. 13 at Eden Prairie.
The Lakers claimed the Section 2AA championship with a team score of 144.05 — the season’s best mark — finishing just ahead of New Prague to secure the title. The appearance marks a rare milestone for the program, previously reached in 2013 and again in 2024. The Lakers finished the regular season with a 5-1 record in the South Suburban Conference, taking second place to Lakeville South.
“We knew we had a shot but we felt like we still had a lot left to prove after our regular season,” Head Coach Patrick Kloeckner said. “We have so much potential all year but due to illnesses, injuries and other absences we haven’t been able to put together a whole meet.”
Prior Lake enters the state meet ranked No. 4 in Class AA according to the latest team rankings compiled by the Minnesota Girls Gymnastics Coaches Association.
The state meet will be held at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul. The team championships will take place Friday, Feb. 20, with Prior Lake and the rest of Class AA beginning competition at 11 a.m. A fan bus will be available for students for Friday’s team competition.
The individual and all-around championships will follow on Saturday, with Class AA again beginning at 11 a.m.
Prior Lake has four individuals headed to the individual state tournament, tied for the second most in Prior Lake history. Clare Draine (three-time qualifier) and Maya Hage, a Jordan athlete, finished 2-3 in the all-around competition to punch their ticket.
Senior co-captains Madeline Chappuis (two-time qualifier) and Anika Campbell (first-time qualifier) are also headed to the state tournament on individual events, Chappuis on fault, bars and floor, and Campbell on vault and floor.
Section competition opened up on floor where the team secured its best team total of the year, 37.125. Anna Gillespie opened the rotation with a stuck upgraded floor routine that helped generate momentum going forward. Campbell, coming back from illness that had her water down some of her routines all season, posted a 9.2 to really get things going.
Prior Lake then went to vault with its highest scoring potential the Lakers have had under Kloeckner.
“Having all 9.6 and 9.8 start values has been a goal of mine since the start of my career and this was the first year we were able to do it,” he said.
Sofia Vold, another Jordan athlete, opened up with her new vault of the year, a Yurechenko entry full twist on and half twist off to get the Lakers started. Draine followed her up with a tucked Yurechenko, a vault she competed for the first time a week prior. After their two hits the next three flips secured trips to state with Campbell going 9.125, Hage with a personal best of a 9.325 and Chappuis closing out with a 9.175.
The bars competition was where the first fall was recorded for the Lakers.
“Sofia (Vold) opened up solidly for us, followed by an unfortunate fall by Shakopee 7th grade phenom Gia Wilson which happened when she over shot her cast to handstand before her giants,” Kloeckner said. “I was really impressed and proud of how Gia carried on after that fall. She stayed in there and was a great teammate for the rest of that rotation. Then, truth be told, I think she became more determined to stick her beam routine, which is where we really needed her to shine, and she did just that.”
Chappuis, Hage and Draine closed out the bar rotation with some of their best routines of the year that helped the Lakers secure their bars event win.
The final rotation was beam. Kloeckner said the team struggled on the beam most of the year. Campbell opened up with an 8.5, which included a fall. She recovered to still get a respectable score. Next came Wilson’s clutch stick that helped reenergize the team. Chappuis came next and unfortunately garnered two falls, although her prowess on the other events still helped her capture the fifth place in the all around competition.
Coach Kloeckner and Assistant Coach Amanda Montplaisir won section coach and assistant coach of the year respectively.
