THORNTON -- Pueblo Central’s Tera Sisson ended her high school gymnastics career as she began -- as a state champion.

Sisson won the Class 4A all-around title when she was a freshman but had to settle as the runner-up the past two seasons to Anna Simmons of Mountain Range. Saturday, at Thornton High School, she fashioned a 37.75 to win the title against Evergreen’s Bethel Lindsley, who scored 37.125.

Evergreen’s Mandy Flesche was third, with 36.9.

The day certainly wasn’t a total loss for Lindsley and Flesche, as they helped Evergreen win the school’s first gymnastics championship. The Cougars, coached by Monnya Silver, tallied 180.25 points to beat Pueblo Central (177.6) and third-place Elizabeth (176.25).

Sisson virtually put the competition away when she scored 9.7 on her floor routine, her third event of the meet. In the meantime, Lindsley could only score 9.2 on her vault. And, as the schedule would have it, the two girls were the final two competitors of the meet, and all eyes were on their last events, vault for Sisson and floor for Lindsley.

Sisson put a bit of pressure on herself, having fallen on her first vault. But she hit the second for 9.175.

Lindsley had some problems on her floor routine and finished with 9.3.

“I just knew that I had to hit everything on floor, as that’s one of my best events,” Sisson said. “During the regular season, Lindsley and I have been close all year, and we were right together during this whole meet. This was really exciting because my aunt (coach Kendra Nogare-Drury) won it her sophomore and senior years. I won my first and last year ,just like her.

“My vault is kind of my weaker event, and I knew I really had to hit on my second one,” Sisson said. “I felt the pressure a lot -- I had to stick it.”

After Sisson’s floor routine, Lindsley knew that winning the all-around was out of the question. But the team needed a good floor routine for it to prevail.

“I knew that Tera had it won going into floor and I just wanted to go out and have fun with the team and perform for everyone,” Lindsley said. “We had our best score of the year, and I’m really proud of everyone, as we got it together in the right meet.

“I was coming off an injury from about a week ago, a pulled muscle, and I had some rough landings on my floor routine,” Lindsley said. “And, I had to land my vault better. I thought it was really fun that Tera and I were the last two to finish.”

Elizabeth had the team lead after the first two rotations, scoring 45.4 on floor, then following with 44.575 for a 89.975 total. Pre-meet favorite Evergreen followed with 89.425, with Pueblo Central setting in third, 88.275.

But Elizabeth struggled on the uneven bars, scoring 43.15 to drop back into third. Evergreen, with a 45.0 effort on vault, leapt into the lead with Central right behind in the team race, scoring 45.375 on floor. The Cougars held a 134.425-133.65 edge on the Wildcats, setting the stage for a dramatic finish. Evergreen finished on the bars, Central on floor.

Evergreen finished with a flurry, scoring 45.7 on floor, and Central finished with a 43.95 on vault. Also helping lead the Cougars to the title was all-arounder Chancey Hines (34.775).

“It so exciting,” Silver said. “Our goal, not only to win a state championship, but to make our gymnastics exciting to watch. And we did it. Every girl’s routine was awesome, and people were on their feet during our floor. I really feel that is what gymnastics is all about.

“Bethel is an incredible, talented gymnast, but she didn’t have her best meet tonight,” Silver said. “She is good enough to not do her best but to still do well. And, we had a great meet from Mandy, Chancey and all the girls. This has been the most stressful time for me, but it’s all been worth it.”

Sisson’s finish also was a thrill for Nogare-Drury, herself a two-time all-around champion, in 1987 and 1989, when she competed for the Wildcats.

“Tera did a great job getting prepared and to come back and win her senior year,” Nogare-Drury said. “We talked about her winning as I did back in high school. But all the girls did well. We didn’t count a lot of falls, and they did the best to their capability today. We’re really proud. Evergreen just did a great job, too, and they are to be congratulated.”