Park juniors Gabriella Faletti and Eli Firchau have been nominated to represent the school for the MSHSL ExCEL award.

ExCEL (Excellence in Community, Education, and Leadership) is a unique recognition program designed exclusively for Minnesota high school juniors who are active in school activities, show leadership qualities, volunteer in their communities and are model citizens.

Park’s female recipient this year is Gabby Faletti. Faletti earned All-Conference, All-Section, and All-State honors in soccer and is also a letter winner in track and field. In school she is involved in National Honor Society, Key Club, Leaders of the Pack, and Park Pack.

Faletti is also very involved in the community, volunteering as a faith formation teacher at her church as well as a youth soccer coach. She has taken many IB and AP classes and has a GPA of 4.2.

Eli Firchau is Park’s male award winner. Firchau is a three-sport letter winner in cross country, Nordic skiing, and track and field. He earned All-Conference or Honorable Mention honors in all three sports and was a state meet qualifier in cross country.

Firchau is also in the orchestra and National Honor Society. Outside of school, he volunteers with Special Olympics and with his church. He earned Academic All-State honors in both cross country and track and has a 4.1 GPA.

This is the 29th year that the MSHSL has sponsored the ExCEL award. An independent panel of judges from schools throughout Minnesota will select ExCEL Award recipients in January. State award winners (16 males and 16 females) will be announced via the League website in February and will be recognized on KSTC-TV during the broadcast of the 2025 winter state tournaments.

Park seniors Hollen Thompson and Sam Paulsen were both selected as state winners of this award last year.