When Monticello’s Lauren Hansen finished third at the gymnastics state tournament as a sophomore in 2024, her teammates and coaches congratulated her on such a high finish.

But Hansen wasn’t satisfied.

“I remember walking out with her and her mom and everyone was like, ‘oh my gosh, Lauren, good job,’” Monticello head coach Lisa Moran said. “And you could just on her face, like, ‘Okay, yeah, but next year I’m going to win.’”

At the state tournament in 2025, Hansen did just that, capturing individual gold medals on uneven bars (9.425), floor exercise (9.525) and in the all-around (37.475) of the Class 1A competition.

“Being motivated, getting third the year before, I definitely came in and wanted to win,” Hansen said. “So just winning and having my teammates by my side … just felt super rewarding.”

Monticello was runner-up in the team competition at last year’s Class 1A team tournament. This season, Monticello is competing in Class 2A, the classification for the state’s largest schools based on student enrollment, bringing with them a new level of confidence, Moran said. The Magic have remained atop the Class 2A team rankings all season, averaging a team score of 146.783.

“We knew coming in that they were ready and excited and they’ve gotten skills and they’ve been prepared,” Moran said. “But after the first meet, as coaches, we were like, ‘Oh my god, this is gonna be good, they’re good.’”