New Prague’s gymnasts view the season as a process, a journey where they aim to be at their best at the end of the season when the meets are the most important. Saturday (Jan. 3), NP took second at the Matt Shetka Invitational.
The second-place finish represents steady improvement by a young team working to be better each time out, said coach Darrell Christenson.
“I think we did a fantastic job,” Christenson said, pointing to the team’s highest score of the season. Everything is moving in the right direction. We’ve got some things to cleanup. There are some things here and there, finding out what works best for the different athletes.”
New Prague finished second at the invitational with a 139.1 total. Mankato East won the meet with a 141.850. Mankato West took third with a 139.05 total. Prior Lake finished fourth at 138.05, followed by Byron at 137.45, Worthington at 134.45, Pine Island/ Zumbrota-Mazeppa at 129, Kasson Mantorville/Triton/Stewartville with a 127.6 and New Prague’s junior varsity at 120.65.
NP finished third in the vault at 35.6. Hailey Proshek posted the team’s top score at 9.2 – good for fourth overall. Karly Ophus finished ninth 9.0 and Frankee Spicer was 12th at 8.9. Annie Hanzel finished 25th with an 8.5 mark. NP’s Taylor Hankinson finished 29th at 8.45. Mackenzie Janovsky finished 39th at 8.3.
The Trojans had solid performances. Their team score – 34.4 – was the top mark for the day. Proshek finished second with a 9.4. Rybak’s 9.0 mark was good for fourth. Spicer and Ophus tied for 17th with 8.0 scores. Janovsky finished 57th at 6.9.
On the balance beam, NP took...
To see more on this story pick up the January 8, 2026 print edition of The New Prague Times.