On the weekend of Nov.18, Manville gymnasts Emma Thompson and Brooke Hoodja, competed at the Rutgers Classic Invitational in the Livingston Gym in Piscataway.
Both girls are fifth graders at Roosevelt School.
In her first meet of the year, Brooke started her Level 7 gymnastics season in superb fashion.
Brooke started on the balance beam and impressed the judges enough to earn a score of 9.325 and second place.
Brooke performed her routine, which is choreographed to showcase her strengths while adding more difficult elements, exceptionally well. Another choreographed routine is the floor exercise. Over the summer, Brooke and her coach chose the music and the skills necessary to compete to the best of her ability. This was the first time competing her routine for which Brooke scored a 9.0. Although finishing off the podium on floor, Brooke showed impressive strength and grace.
Next up came the vault. Brooke’s score was 9.375 — capturing another second place.
The last event of the day was the uneven parallel bars. A score of 9.3 and a first-place finish was a great reward for her hard work during the summer.
Brooke’s all-around score was 37.0, which earned her second place, and was one of Brooke’s best performances ever.
In the team competition, Brooke’s level 7 team finished in second place as well.
Emma performed first, drawing a late Friday evening time slot. After a full day of school, she continued her level 6 season with some of her highest scores to date.
Starting in floor exercise, Emma performed her best routine of the season to earn a score of 9.1 and a seventh-place finish.
Next up was the vault. Even though this has been a strong event for her, Emma had trouble at this meet and put up a score of 8.9, which was not high enough for an event medal.
Emma things turned around on the uneven bars, where she performed a spectacular routine and posted a score of 9.425 for a first-place finish. This was a personal best for Emma and more than a full point higher than her previous high score of 8.4.
The last event of the long evening was beam. Emma performed well, sticking all of her elements with, and earned a 9.1, good enough for sixth place.
Overall, Emma scored 36.525 her highest all-around score this year. This score placed her 3rd in the all-around competition in a field of 24 gymnasts.
Next up for the Paramount Gymnastics Team was the Greater New York Invitational on the weekend of Dec. 3.
