Monticello finished second in the Class A state gymnastics meet a year ago, and eagerly awaited another opportunity to compete with 2025 champion Detroit Lakes again this season.
And then came the news in the offseason — Monticello had been moved up to Class 2A.
Magic coach Lisa Moran remembers the message she received that day from star gymnast Lauren Hansen.
“Oh my gosh, did you see it’s 2A? Ugh,” Moran recalled.
“We were intimidated,” Hansen said. “The schools are so big in 2A that we couldn’t believe we got moved up.”
But the frustration quickly turned to motivation. Hansen got together with her teammates and they all agreed training had to ramp up. Their skills had to match those displayed among the state’s biggest programs. It wouldn’t be easy, but it was doable.
And now it’s done.
Monticello completed its title quest in emphatic fashion on Friday afternoon at Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul, winning with a score of 148.725 — clearing second-place Owatonna by 4.225 points. Hopkins finished third, while East Ridge was fourth and White Bear Lake was eighth.
Monticello logged the top team score in each of the four events en route to the program’s first-ever team state title.
“We knew it’d be close, we knew it’d be hard, but we didn’t think it’d be as incredible as this was,” Moran said. “They’ve worked so hard all year, this was incredible.”
Hansen led the charge, tallying an all-around score of 38.725. Her final vault was the grand finale for Monticello. And when she stuck it to seal the team title, her teammates raced down to embrace her.
But it was a team effort for the Magic, just as they prefer it. Moran noted the bonds generated between the girls served as the team’s superpower.
“They’re all friends. They push each other, they’re all happy for their successes, they are never jealous,” Moran said. “If someone gets a skill, they wanted to learn it from somebody else. They genuinely care about each other, and that’s been huge. They support each other through everything.”
The Magic established themselves as the team to beat throughout the winter as they compiled one gaudy score after another, and ultimately proved it on the state’s biggest stage.
A team that generally carried a nervous energy into meets was nothing but confident heading into Friday’s affair.
“I think seeing themselves in the ranking and seeing that number get higher and higher every single week was a huge confidence booster,” Moran said.
They realized they belonged.
“It’s kind of like, ‘We can be with the big schools,’” Moran said. “We can do this.”
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