A Well-Polished Brooks Is Fourth

All-Met Sam Brooks of Colonial Forge focuses during her routine on the beam. Brooks finished fourth, highest among area participants. (By Dan Reeves For The Washington Post)

VIRGINIA BEACH, Feb. 18 -- Colonial Forge junior gymnast Sam Brooks polished off her day at the Virginia individual gymnastics championship by sitting in the stands at Tallwood High School and painting her fingernails and toenails.

Such a relaxed approach to the meet proved to be the difference for Brooks, who improved on her score in the all-around by 0.15 points from last year's state championships, to score a 38.675 Saturday, highlighted by a 9.825 on her floor routine.

That Brooks's place in the all-around dropped from second last year to fourth this year speaks to the level of competition at Saturday's meet. Three Virginia Beach gymnasts, First Colonial senior Kara Wright, Salem junior Leslie DeLima and Kellam senior Talia Tossone, blew away the competition. Wright took first place with a meet-record 39.5, winning her record fourth straight all-around championship. She faced the closest challenge in her career from Tossone, who used a perfect 10 on vault to stay skill-for-skill with Wright until a fall on beam in the last rotation slid Tossone to third place.

Other than Brooks, only two area gymnasts, Lake Braddock senior Jeenie Shank (vault, uneven bars) and Stonewall Jackson junior Kelsey Deitz (bars) finished in the top five in any of the four individual events.

"The competition was a little fierce today," Brooks said. "I mean, I don't know how to compete with perfection."

Saturday's performance was a reaffirmation of Brooks's skills. Last year's All-Met Gymnast of the Year, Brooks had finished second in the all-around at both the AAA Commonwealth District and Northwestern Region meets. And during Friday night's team competition, a less-than-stellar day from Brooks helped downgrade the Eagles to fourth place.

But she said knowing about the level of competition coming in and calming down helped catapult her back to last year's level.

"Honestly, this was the most relaxed I'd been all season," Brooks said. "I knew I wasn't going to win, but I wanted to make up for what happened last night. I always knew I could do all my skills."

Brooks's achievements were not lost on other observers, either.

"With the quality of girls performing here, Sam's finish says a lot about her," said 26th-year Stonewall Jackson coach Karen Lutman. "Sam's a competitor. She's so powerful, and has such a wonderful attitude. I'm so happy she did this well."

Individual Championships Tight Race: Just 0.05 of a point separated First Colonial's Kara Wright and Kellam's Talia Tossone until Tossone's fall on the beam helped Wright earn her fourth straight all-around title. Colonial Forge junior Sam Brooks was the top area performer, finishing fourth.