For the Monticello girls gymnastics team, this year’s Class 2A team tournament was about more than simply winning a state title. It was about doing more than anyone, except themselves, expected.

On Friday, Feb. 20, Monticello, which last year competed against the state’s smallest schools in Class 1A, won the big-school team title with a score of 148.725 at Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul.

Owatonna, the 2025 champs, fought off injuries all season and finished second.

Last year, the Magic placed second in the team competition to Class 1A champion Detroit Lakes. Beating the Lakers was the original goal, until the MSHSL hurled a curveball late last summer.

Monticello was being moved up to Class 2A based on student enrollment.

Competing against the bigger schools wasn’t supposed to be part of the equation.

“At that time, we were so intimidated,” Monticello senior Lauren Hansen said. “Those schools are so big. We just couldn’t believe that we got moved up.”

Surprised? Sure. Perhaps even shocked. But never intimidated. The Monticello gymnasts knew they were good. Now it was time to prove it.

“We learned last summer that we were moving up,” said Hansen, the Magic’s top all-arounder. “We just worked way harder because we knew that we had to match the skills that were in 2A. We stuck to it and motivated each other throughout the summer.”

As the season progressed and Monticello piled up successes, the Magic turned their initial frustration at the move to belief they could do something special.

“They came in last summer and they’re like, ‘You know what? Double A, no problem. We got this,’” coach Lisa Moran said. “And that’s what they’ve done. And now a state championship.”

Few personify Monticello’s can-do attitude more than senior Alisha Grue. A longtime varsity gymnast, she took her junior year off because of stress fractures in both shins.

Her time away just made her realize how much she missed the mat.

“I started coaching and I was like, ‘Man, I like really miss this sport,’” Grue said. “I feel like I have more to do.”

Grue admitted she got a little rusty after a year away from gymnastics, but she believed in herself and her teammates lifted her up. She competed in all four events for the Magic, proving to be a vital piece to the puzzle.

“Getting my skills back after taking year off gymnastics is really hard,” Grue said. “They were the most supportive girls ever. They allowed me to progress throughout the season. I knew we could do some really cool things together.”

1/15

Detroit Lakes repeats as Class 1A champion

The Detroit Lakes gymnastics team encountered some bumps while defending its Class 1A state title Friday, Feb. 20, at Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul.

The Lakers’ three-minute bars warmup went by more quickly than expected, so one gymnast only practiced once before their first rotation began. One athlete had a bloody nose right before competing on vault.

But the team reset each time and posted a meet-high score on every event, giving the Lakers a total score of 147.625, more than three points ahead of runner-up Mankato East and exactly two points higher than their winning total last year.

“We had some mishaps on bars, and I just said, ‘It’s done, it’s over, it doesn’t matter now,’” co-head coach Leesa Lindgaard said. “‘We’re going to focus on the next event, and we can do this.’”

Seniors Maggie Schander and Addy Laux led the Lakers as they won the program’s seventh state title. Detroit Lakes won every Class 1A title from 2015 to 2019 before returning to the top last season.

Schander posted scores of 9.625-plus on three events, and Laux scored 9.225 or better on every event. Both compete as all-arounders in the individual competition Saturday, Feb. 21.

Schander punctuated the meet with two standout vaults, scoring a 9.85 and 9.825. Though only the 9.85 counted, both were higher than any other score on any event across both the Class 1A and Class 2A meets.

“It felt so surreal, like it’s crazy that it’s all done now,” Schander said. “I landed that vault, and it’s like the shock just goes right through your body. … You’re just so proud of everyone and your team and yourself.”

Half of Detroit Lakes’ gymnasts are seniors, and they accounted for 13 of the team’s 20 routines. The other half consists of one junior, one freshman and two eighth-graders. The veterans guided the younger athletes through the meet, giving them the experience they will pass on for years to come, Lindgaard said.

“I just remember walking in here as a little freshman, like so intimidated,” said Laux, on her fourth trip to the state tournament. “I even remember having my own setbacks here and having my own mistakes, and I remember the effects that that had on me, so it felt so good and rewarding to kind of have a full-circle moment and walk in with these new girls.”

The underclassmen now have state tournament experience and a championship under their belts. If the Lakers can capitalize on that next season, they may be on their way to another long stretch as the top team in Class 1A.