ROCKFORD, Mich. --- Junior Katie Teft of Grand Rapids Forest Hills made her debut at the state gymnastics finals by winning the bar and floor events and the all-around title. "It was a major step to come back from an injury and win this," Teft said. "I'm really excited." A crowd of close to 400 waatched the state's top 32 Division I gymnasts in individual competition at the MHSAA state finals on Saturday at Rockford High School. Teft won the all-around title with 37.800 pointts after finishing first on bars with 9.7 and first in the floor exercise with 9.5. She scored 9.250 in the vault, good for a tie for eigth with Robbie Langlois of Grosse Pointe North. Teft also finished with a 9.350 in the balance beam, in a four-way tie for third with Missy Thompson of East Kentwood, Wendy Johnson of Portage and Alyssa Sugarbaker, also from Forest Hills. Teft, now 16, started in gymnastics at 3, eventualy training with Twistars Gymnastics in Lansing. She was third alternate for the U.S. Gymnastics Team for the 1996 Olympics. She suffered a herniated disc in her back in 1995 and reinjured it in early 1997. "I tell on the bars, right on my butt, and jammed it, and did it again a year later," Teft said. "It was hard to walk, and I couldn't sit for more than five minutes." "My back is so much better now. I can't get back to the elite level, but hopefully I can do college gymnastics." She said she wants to attend Arizona State. "She has flawless execution," Judge Linda Pellerito said of Teft. "She just missed going to the Olympics, but she deserves to compete for her school. That's what high school sports are about, the team environment. It's very healthy for kids." Teft said she spent a lot of time "resting my back, icing my back and working other parts of my body," to return from the injuries. It was "dedication" that brought her back, said her coach, Stacy Steensma. The competitors at the state finals were the eight highest finishers in the four events - vault, bars, beam, and floor exercise - from four Lower Penisula regionals.
