Winter sports for the 2022–23 season at Park are coming to a close. According to Park athletic director Andy Ewald, the majority of sports seasons are already over.

“We still have three sports going — boys’ basketball, girls’ basketball and boys’ swimming are all still going, but it was a successful winter overall,” Ewald said.

Boys’ hockey had about a .500 record going 12-12-1 under first-year head coach Tyler Brodersen. Brodersen said he was happy with the team’s season.

“We performed well this year,” Brodersen said. “One of our goals at the beginning of the year was to try and get into a home playoff game — to be the four seed. And we did that, which was good.”

Ewald said the girls’ Nordic Ski team did exceptionally well as they made some significant achievements this year.

“Our girls’ Nordic Ski team had an outstanding year,” Ewald said. “Not only winning the conference, but finishing second at the section championships and qualifying for state and representing our school and our community at the state meet.”

The girls’ gymnastics team went 4-3 in their conference this year, and finished fifth in sections. Senior gymnastics captain Sophia Earle said the gymnastics team’s future is looking bright.

“I am super excited to see what all the younger gymnasts on this team can pull off for next year,” Earle said. “I’m really excited to see their skills grow and see them just go up from here.” 

Brodersen said there were a couple moments from the boys’ hockey season that stuck out to him. 

“Beating Woodbury and beating Hastings in overtime were definitely highlights,” Brodersen said. “Competing with some of the top teams in the Holiday tournament was a highlight as well, and then getting to play on Bally Sports North against Edina was a really good experience for our team.”

Earle said there was a need for higher attendance at girls’ gymnastic meets, and she hopes to bring some more attention for the team in the future.

“It would be great if more of the students from St. Louis Park came to support the gymnastics team,” Earle said. “It would also be great to have more media coverage — whether that be in the 6425 or in Echo. That would be really great just to let people know that we are working hard out here and we are trying our best in the season.”

Ewald said there were some difficulties with getting good attendance for games because of Park’s complicated sports scheduling.

“One of the challenges we have compared to other schools is since we have quite a few kids in athletics, especially in the wintertime, you’ll get nights where you may have three events going on at home at the same time,” Ewald said. “There’s only so many fans to go around, so it kind of gets split up.”

Brodersen said the boys’ hockey attendance picked up as the year went on and as the team started performing better.

“It started out a little bit slower, especially through the middle of the year,” Brodersen said. “Then our attendance was really good in the last regular season game on senior night and then in the playoffs. We had a big student section for both of those games, so that was cool to see. It’s good to see that when we are having success, the students are following.”

Ewald said the school is grateful for the students who showed up to come and watch Park sports during the winter.

“We really appreciate all the support from the student body this winter for their peers who were involved in winter activities,” Ewald said.