Robertson back as a champion

Tumbling past the living room television set, jumping off the couch and climbing trees started the gymnastics process for Jori Robertson.

The road to becoming a national gymnastic champion started at 4 years old for the West Branch High School senior, by chasing her brothers around outside, bouncing off almost anything.

Jori's mother, Linda Robertson, said all of her children were extremely active. Linda said Jori never wanted to sit back and watch her brothers play, but rather fit in and chase them around.

'We had a house full of activity. She was tumbling around, roughhousing, how kids do,” Linda said. 'The girls were always trying to keep up with the boys, and that's what they did.”

Jori said like most kids, she had a lot of energy, which lead to cartwheels and somersaults in the living room. After seeing that, Linda knew she had to get Jori involved with gymnastics at an early age.

Fast forward 14 years and Jori is sitting at a pinnacle moment in her gymnastics life. On May 4, Jori was crowned the Senior D, all-around national champion in Boise, Idaho. But this accomplishment, like most, was hindered by a road of pain and obstacles, unavoidable to the Robertson family.

Consequently, like two of her older brothers had done before in their respective sports, Jori tore her ACL a week before the 2013 USA Gymnastics Western National Championships, falling short of competing for a national title.

After the injury, many around Jori didn't expect the comeback she would have in the 2014 season.

'It was upsetting and I thought, possibly, my career might have been over,” Jori said. 'But a week out of surgery, I came back into the gym and was doing strength and as much as I could without any pain.”

The odds were stacked against Jori as she entered her senior season. Expectations were set at reachable levels - get strong and compete. That was Jori's goal.

And then she surpassed those goals.

'I knew she'd come back and be good, but I was just hoping she could just win state again,” Linda said. 'Maybe qualify for regionals. I figured that was doable for her.

'But to win nationals, that was just the best of everything. She just blew me away.”

Jori's physical trainer, Justin Plum, said the biggest challenge facing the rehabilitation process wasn't physical, but the mental idea of watching her teammates compete while she had to sit out.

'The hardest thing was watching her teammates compete while she sat out,” Plum said. 'But we got her back in to lower level stuff, and it got her doing gymnastics again.”

Now, with no more competition left in the season and as strong as she has ever been, Jori has her sights set on the next level.

Some Division II and Division III schools have their eye on Jori. She, however, is preparing to walk-on to the University of Iowa's gymnastics team.

'She had to prove herself this year to get back to where she was before she got hurt,” Linda said. 'There's a lot of opportunities out there, so why not?

'When you see her perform, it's beautiful.”

l Comments: stephen.koenigsfeld@thegazettecompany.com