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Depth, Young Talent Will Lead The Way For Lakers

By Tom Schardin, 11/25/18, 12:30PM CST

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The Prior Lake gymnastics team has a deep, young roster that could make some noise by season's end.

The Lakers return one state qualifier from last year in junior Seleena Wallace, who competed in two events last year at the Class AA individual competition, the vault and the uneven bars.

"Our goal is to continue to improve and to stay healthy," Lakers coach Barb Kass said. "We have a very young team, so if we can stay on this course, we could have a successful team for years to come."

Last year, Prior Lake finished third in the Section 2AA behind perennial powers Lakeville North and Lakeville South, respectively. The Lakers had a section team score of 142.25, which was off from their best score of the season, a 143.4 in their final Suburban Conference dual of the regular season.

Prior Lake also posted a 142.875 last year in an SSC dual versus Farmington, so it went over 142 three times. Lakeville North won the section crown with 150.050, while runner-up Lakeville South posted a 147.175.

Prior lake's best team score in program history is 143.775 in which the Lakers achieved in the 2017 Section 2AA competition.

Stillwater ended up winning the state team title last year with a score of 150.250, while Lakeville North, the defending champion, ended up second (149.700).

Prior Lake has had at least one gymnast at state the last seven years. The Lakers were there as a team in 2013, finishing seventh. Wallace ended up 27th on the vault last year at state with a score of 9.362 and was 32nd on the uneven bars (8.862).

Others expected to make an impact for the Lakers this season include: junior Maddie Tschida, sophomore Hannah Walter and ninth-graders Kyle Thompson, Lexi Klugherzand Sarah Lesser.

Kass also expects eighth-graders Alex Burger and Terin Block, seventh-graders Reese Husto and Brooke Thompson and ninth-graders Sydney Springer and Lily Mosher to contribute. Jessica Anderson is the only senior on the roster.

"A few strengths of this team are that it is large, young and the gymnasts seem to get along well and support each other," Kass said. "I think we have a lot of talent joining our team."

Prior Lake will open the season Dec. 8 in its open invitational at noon. Teams in the field include Lakeville South, Chanhassen, Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, New Prague, Rosemount and Watertown-Mayer.

The Lakers will open the SSC dual season Dec. 11 at home versus Lakeville North. Prior Lake gets the other Lakeville team in an SSC meet at home Dec. 18. Both start at 6 p.m.

The Lakers will compete at Eden Prairie Dec. 20 in a non-league dual at 6 p.m.

Prior Lake opens the New Year in the New Prague Invitational Jan. 5 at 11 a.m.