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MANVILLE: Two youngsters compete in Philadelphia gym meet

   On Feb. 25, Brooke Hoodja competed in Philadelphia at the Pink Invitational, a meet organized to help enable Unite for HER assist women affected by breast cancer and to provide wellness education materials.
   The Roosevelt School fifth grader had another excellent meet, finishing in fourth place all-around with a score of 37.275.
   Starting the day on the floor exercise, Brooke scored a season-high 9.575 to earn fourth place.
   Her next event was the vault. Brooke had a little trouble and scored 8.55.
   Brooke’s score of 9.55, another season high, gave her a third-place finish in the uneven parallel bars.
   On the balance beam, Brooke had her best performance of the season again, scoring 9.6 out of a possible 10 points. She finished in second place among some tough competitors. Brooke’s Level 7 team took third place in the team competition.
   The next day, Emma Thompson, a Paramount Gymnastics teammate as well as a classmate of Brooke’s, began her competition.
   Emma competes as a Level 6 gymnast, which is the last compulsory level before the girls move on to the optional levels. In the optional levels, the girls get their own custom routines for each of the events.
   The Pink Invitational was Emma’s last meet of the season. She started the day on the balance beam, and struggled on her full turn. It was a shame because, to that point, it was probably her best routine of the season. Even with losing 0.5 point for the fall, she still scored 8.9. Unfortunately, this was not good enough for a placement in a tough field of competitors.
   The girls moved to floor exercises next and Emma scored 8.95 and placed ninth. Like Brooke, she struggled on vault and scored 8.65.
   The last event was uneven parallel bars. Emma made the one skill that had been giving her trouble this season and scored 9.025, which was good enough for fifth place.
   Paramount’s Level 6 team took fourth place. Emma said she is hoping that she will be able to gain the skills she needs for Level 7 and is looking forward to having her own routines.