Northern Dreams Gymnastics excels at state, anticipates continued growth (2025)

The Northern Dreams Platinum Level gymnastics team had very little room for error at the Minnesota State Championships this season.

To earn a team score in the competition, a gymnastics program must have at least three competitors, as the top three scores on each event are added together to get the final team total.

Northern Dreams sent exactly three gymnasts to the championships March 21-23. That meant every girl's score would count towards the score, while many other teams had a bit more wiggle room with larger rosters.

But that didn’t seem to make a difference.

The three competitors – Serena Stoebner, Mariah Johnson and Kaitlyn Crane – excelled in their respective age divisions, pushing the team to a top-10 finish.

Stoebner captured first place on floor, second place on bars, third place on beam and eighth place on vault, resulting in a No. 1 finish in the all-around for her age group. Johnson also came away with the top score in the all-around for her age division, capturing first place on vault, second place on bars, fourth place on beam and eighth place on floor. Crane was the runner-up in her group, placing first on vault, second on bars, fourth on beam and eighth on floor.

Together, the impressive individual performances amounted to a seventh-place finish (out of 44) for Northern Dreams, putting the small gym, located in Cass Lake, right up there with many of the larger programs across the state.

“We are kind of used to not being at the bottom of the barrel when we go to big meets like that state meet, but definitely not being towards the top,” gym director and head coach Erin Reyes said. “It was really exciting to see our name in the top 10.”

All three girls also qualified to represent Minnesota at the USA Gymnastics Regional Championships in Madison, Wisconsin, on April 25-27, taking on gymnasts from Iowa, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Missouri and Nebraska.

“They could potentially do very well at regionals,” Reyes said. “It’s exciting to think about, as a small town gym, that we could go there. I mean, we’ve had individuals place at regionals before, but all three of the girls have every event really, really strong.

It’s been a competitive season full of success for Northern Dreams, a program that just keeps growing.

Reyes wears a lot of hats at Northern Dreams. In the past couple of years, she’s been able to take a few of them off.

Reyes opened Northern Dreams Gymnastics seven years ago. For the first few years, she was teaching every class and every team. More recently, however, Reyes has been able to fill more positions and bring in more support.

“I was spread so thin,” Reyes said. “This season, there’s so many things that helped our program. I’ve been able to fill much-needed positions and it’s allowed me to focus on the teams and coaching side of things more. … We have a passionate team. They’re not only invested in the gym but the community as well.”

Assistant gym director and team coach Jazzmin McGhghy, assistant head coach Sheri Humphrey and recreational program director Sara Stoebner are just a few of the key figures who form the leadership nucleus at Northern Dreams.

With more attention turned to coaching, Reyes has been able to really hone in on a few of the most important aspects of gymnastics. This season in particular, it seems to be paying dividends.

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Nutrition and mindset have always been aspects of Reyes’ coaching, but this year, it’s been an especially large part of training, particularly for the older girls.

“The mental game of gymnastics is almost like another event in itself,” Reyes said. “Every practice and every meet isn’t going to go perfect, and if something isn’t working or a gymnast is struggling with a skill – it happens, it’s common and it’s okay, and it’s okay to step away from something and come back to it later.”

Reyes and the coaches at Northern Dreams also like to keep a strong communication line with the girls, ensuring they not only understand drills but also why they’re doing them.

Those drills also receive some internal scrutiny as well, as the staff at Northern Dreams “constantly” evaluates their practices and meets to figure out what areas might need improvement through drills and conditioning.

In addition, Reyes and the staff also use video playback to tweak specific routines, trying to work on the small details that can be massive difference makers at a meet. The trio of Platinum Level gymnasts has already started reviewing videos from state, looking to tweak and perfect the “little details”.

“Gymnasts do a lot of skills fast – they go upside down, they twist, they flip,” Reyes said. “A lot of times they just can’t feel, for example, that their leg is bent or their back is arched when it’s not supposed to be. So many times, seeing the problem instead of just hearing a correction benefits them more, especially with the older girls, because they have the physical strength and understanding. So nine times out of 10, when we show them the video, they can fix it on the next turn.”

From the younger gymnasts to the older team competitors, Northern Dreams has seen improvements across the board.

“They’re responding extremely well,” Reyes said. “It really is such a testament to our coaching staff. They work so hard, the girls work so hard. I mean, everybody, I think, has a goal; they want to be good at gymnastics. The girls want to be good at gymnastics and the coaches want to do everything they can to help the girls reach their goals. And I think (the) coaches are all on the same page, which helps a lot.”

There’s only so much room in a gym, especially in Northern Dreams’ current location.

Reyes is looking to craft a building that better fits the needs of gymnastics. Some events for higher level gymnasts are limited, thanks to the height of the ceiling and the size of the current space. Northern Dreams occasionally rents the Gym Bin so the older girls can work on some of the skills that need a larger space.

Reyes and the coaching staff certainly “make it work” at the current location, evident by the successes of this competitive season and the high number of participants – but a space tailor-made for gymnastics would certainly provide a boost.

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“It’s been something that we’ve been working on for a few years here, and things are moving along a little bit,” Reyes said. “We’re really excited to see what comes next for us.”

However, being a smaller gym has its positives. The group is extremely close, and those three aforementioned Platinum Level gymnasts – Stoebner, Johnson and Crane – have taken on a leadership group for a lot of the younger competitors.

“You can’t get away from each other,” quipped Reyes. “Sometimes it’s a distraction, but it’s a good distraction. (The younger girls) want to see what the big girls are doing, and sometimes they can’t stop watching them, So it is really cool to see.

"They do look up to them a lot, and they’re really good role models. I really couldn't ask for a better group of gymnasts or a better staff at the gym, I just feel like this year has clicked so well with everybody.”