Free State's Huston takes all-around crown at Emporia Invitational, leads Firebirds gymnastics to runner-up finish; Lawrence delivers its best score of season

Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports

Free State freshman Harper Huston performs on the beam during the Lawrence Invitational Sept. 13, 2025 at Lawrence High School.

In the first event this season with a full trio of competitors, Free State gymnastics delivered its best team performance by a wide margin during the Emporia Invitational on Monday, Sept. 22 at Emporia High School.

The Firebirds scored a 94.100, taking second behind Newton’s 94.350. The team’s score eclipsed its previous best outing by more than 30 points. Freshman Harper Huston won the all-around title at the event with a 33.45, well ahead of the 31.500 for the runner-up in Newton’s Coe’lina Mosqueda.

Freshman Lucy Koch performed in all three of Free State’s meets so far this season, with Huston and sophomore Cleo Trigg trading off who joined her in the first two meets before both participated down in Emporia.

In addition to Huston top score at the meet, Koch finished third with a 30.4 while Trigg finished fourth with a 30.25.

Huston delivered the team’s best score in three of four events. She delivered the team’s first 9.0 or above score this season with a 9.1 for floor. Huston had previously scored 8.8 in that event during the Lawrence High Invitational on Sept. 13 at Lawrence High School. She saw her scores slightly dip in her other three events, but her 8.3 for vault and 7.7 for bars were still the top marks for the Firebirds.

Lawrence, Free State FireLions at LHS meet 1-17

Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports

Lawrence and Free State gymnastics head coach Alexis Gonzales celebrates with Free State’s Lucy Koch after the latter completed her beam routine during the Lawrence Invitational on Sept. 13, 2025 at Lawrence High School.

Lucy Koch earned the team’s best mark for beam, matching her score from the first meet with an 8.4. Huston finished right behind her with an 8.35.

Trigg finished second on the team in vault with an 8.15 and in bars with a 6.7. Koch had the team’s second best score for floor with a 7.7, followed by Trigg at 7.45. In addition to those three competitors, Free State has senior Emi Stone, who has yet to compete so far this season.

For Free State’s crosstown rival, Lawrence also had its best outing of the season in Emporia. Both teams are led by third-year head coach Alexis Gonzales.

Lawrence started with a 60.500 at the meet they hosted on Sept. 13. At their next outing, the Shawnee Mission North Invitational held at Shawnee Mission Northwest on Sept. 20, the Lions improved to a 68.375.

Then on Monday, Lawrence vaulted their team score to a 79.850 at Emporia High School.

Most of that jump was achieved by junior Naomi Klopfenstein and Becca Liljestrom joining Jensen Wallace in competing in the beam for the first time this season.

All three Lions also delivered their season-best score in bars. Wallace earned a 6.0, a full point better than her score from the season opener. Klopfestein added more than a point to her previous outing in that event to score a 5.3 while Liljestrom added two-tenths of a point from her previous best to deliver a 4.8.

Lawrence, Free State FireLions at LHS meet 1-5

Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports

Lawrence freshman Jensen Wallace practices for the bars event during her team’s home meet.

Wallace and Klopfenstein also had their best outings of the season for floor. Wallace scored an 8.0 while Klopfenstein had a 7.2. Liljestrom scored a 6.65, a little less than her 6.8 from the Shawnee Mission North Invite.

Interestingly, the Lions actually had their best vault performance at the second meet. Both at their first meet and in Emporia, all three Lawrence gymnasts produced scores under 7.6. The team’s best result in that event in Emporia was just 7.3 by Liljestrom.

But at the Shawnee Mission North invite, Liljestrom and Wallace both posted a score of 8.2, while Klopfenstein added a 7.9.

For the Emporia invite, Wallace took sixth in the all-around with a 29.150. Klopfenstein took ninth with a 25.750 while Liljestrom finished 10th with a 24.950.

If the team can replicate their scores from the other three events in Emporia while also delivering vault scores closer to the second meet of the season, the Lions could crack 80 points as a team for the first time this season. Currently the team’s score at Emporia puts Lawrence ahead of the highest team score for five of the state’s 14 gymnastics teams.

Lawrence will compete next 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 23 at Mill Creek Center in Olathe, an event hosted by Olathe North which will include each of the Olathe programs. Then both Lawrence and Free State will compete Saturday, Sept. 27 at Lawrence High School, this time in a meet hosted by Free State. This event is scheduled to include all but one of the state’s gymnastics teams, with Emporia as the lone team not listed as a participant.