BUTLER TWP — Natalie Beilstein, Lexis Frost and Kelsey Kozora all won state championships in vault this season for the Butler Gymnastics Club.

Their careers as gymnasts might just be beginning.

Beilstein, a Knoch senior headed to the University of Michigan on a gymnastics scholarship, is leaving Steve Heasley's organization as its most decorated member.

She is a two-time national floor champion, three-time Region 7 all-star and national team member, a three-time national qualifier and a state champion many times over.

"Natalie is the best female gymnast to come out of Butler since Beverly Fry Plocki (1982), and Bev will be her coach at Michigan," Heasley said.

"Her floor skills are incredible. She has mastered nearly every tumbling skill that is being performed in the world today. Name it and she has either done it or has tried it. For her, it is more play than learning."

Beilstein has been a Level 10 gymnast for six years, overcoming a broken foot and a severe ankle sprain during that time. She scored a 9.875 in vault and 9.625 in floor exercise at the state meet in Bethlehem this season, winning titles in both.

She finished second in vault and fourth on floor at the regional meet, qualifying for nationals but knowing ahead of time she wouldn't be attending.

"Nationals fell on the same weekend as the prom and I didn't want to miss my prom this year," Beilstein said. "I've missed a lot of school functions for gymnastics, but I wasn't going to miss this one.

"I love gymnastics. I can't imagine my life without it. Still, there's only one prom. I wish they were on different weekends, but they weren't."

Heasley applauded Beilstein's decision.

"It was the right thing to do," he said. "She had already won nationals twice. Natalie's looking ahead to college now."

Beilstein's goal is to crack Michigan's starting lineup in the vault and floor exercise as a freshman.

"Competition motivates me," Beilstein said. "You have to strive to be better."

As her coach, Heasley describes Beilstein as "the one we were waiting for, the one we talk about and always will talk about."

Frost, a freshman at Butler, won the Level 9 state title in vault with a 9.2. She also stood out in track and field, leading Butler County with a triple jump of 36 feet, 4Z\x inches and securing the county's second fastest time of 15.34 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles.

Frost finished fourth in all-around at the regional meet and qualified for nationals in her first year as a Level 9 gymnast.

"That just shows what a versatile and dedicated athlete she is," said Jim Sinchak, Butler Level 8 and 9 girls gymnastics coach

After track and field practice every day, Frost reported to the Butler Gymnastics Club to work on her skills in that sport.

"I love doing both sports," Frost said. "I'm running an awful lot."

At Level 8 last year, she placed second in vault at the regional.

"We'll keep her at Level 9 again next year," Sinchak said. "She thrives on competition. She stays pretty loose out there. Lexis is very confident in her abilities."

Kozora, a seventh grader from Ellwood City, won the Level 8 state title in vault with a 9.5. Only 13, she will become a Level 9 gymnast next year.

"We had quite a season overall," Sinchak said. "These three girls played a big part in that, of course."