Prior Lake Gymnastics is headed to state after winning the section tournament last Friday, February 13 at Eden Prairie High School. “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 after posting a season’s best mark of 144.05 to New Prague’s second best showing of 140.575.
The Lakers finished the regular season 5-1 in the South Suburban Conference, taking second place to Lakeville South. “We’ve had so much potential all year, but due to illnesses, injuries, and other absences, we haven’t been able to put together a whole meet.”
Despite this, Prior Lake entered the section tournament, and now the state tournament, as the fourth ranked team in the state.
Prior Lake also 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.
“Hailey Proshek from New Prague won 2nd place in the all-around at the state tournament last year, so we figured she would win the meet again, but I knew we had a chance to take the other two qualifying spots,” mentioned Kloeckner.
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 Vault, Bars, and Floor and Campbell on Vault and floor.
“This serves as our first time having two all-around girls qualify and the first time we’ve taken 4 out of the 6 spots on two events (vault and floor).”
The meet opened up on floor where the team secured its best team total of the year, 37.125. “Opening up with each girl hitting their floor routine started our meet with the exclamation point it needed. I really think that was the perfect rotation for us so we could get our nervous energy out before the rest of the meet.”
Anna Gillespie opened the rotation with a stuck upgraded floor routine that helped generate momentum going forward. Then 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. “She couldn’t have gotten healthy at a better time.” Chappuis, Hage and Draine followed suit with a 9.375, 9.4 and 9.2 respectively.
“In between rotations, we were able to rest and bond in another gym that helped keep our heads clear the whole meet. So we truthfully had no idea how the other teams were doing for the entirety of the competition which helped us stay in the moment.”
Next, Prior Lake 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.”
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.
Next was bars, and this is 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 happened when she over shot her cast to handstand before her giants.
“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. “We’ve struggled on beam this year, so I hoped to get three sticks. I thought with three sticks we could still make it to state. After the meet, I figured out we could’ve fallen a bit more, but not looking at any routines or scores helped create the pressure we’ll feel this week at state.”
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.
“Maya and Clare knew they needed sticks after our opening three routines. Maya’s focus all week was patience on the beam. That patience really paid off and helped get us back on track before Draine had the best beam routine of her career. Draine’s focus all day helped her secure the best all-around score and her second-place finish.”
Coach Kloeckner and Assistant Coach Amanda Montplaisir won section coach and assistant coach of the year respectively. The team state tournament takes place on Friday, February 20th at 11 AM at Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul. The individual tournament takes place on Saturday, February 21st, also at 11 AM at Roy Wilkins Auditorium.
Results
1st Prior Lake 144.05 SB
2nd New Prague 140.575
3rd Chaska/Chanhassen 138.05
All Around – Top 3 qualify for the state tournament
2nd Clare Draine 36.6 SB PB SQ
3rd Maya Hage 36.325 SB PB SQ
5th Madeline Chappuis 35.175
Vault: 36.5 SB
2nd Maya Hage 9.325 SB PB
3rd Madeline Chappuis 9.175 SQ
4th Anika Campbell 9.125 SQ
6th Clare Draine 8.875 SB PB
8th Sofia Vold 8.825
Bars: 35.05
1st Clare Draine 9.275
3rd Madeline Chappuis 8.925 SQ
4th Maya Hage 8.75
15th Sofia Vold 8.1
19th Gia Wilson 7.925
Beam: 35.325
2nd Clare Draine 9.25 SB PB
8th Maya Hage 8.85
9th Gia Wilson 8.725
16th Anika Campbell 8.5
30th Madeline Chappuis 7.7
Floor: 37.125 SB
2nd Maya Hage 9.4
3rd Madeline Chappuis 9.375 SQ
T-5th Clare Draine 9.2
T-5th Anika Campbell 9.2 SQ
24th Anna Gillespie 8.35
