Brooks delivers in clutch

Senior comes through on balance beam, leads Stafford to sixth Winterfest championship.

Date published: 1/15/2006

By KURT NICOLL

Allison Brooks is not afraid of the boogeyman or the dark. And a little added pressure at the end of the big meet does not rattle her either.

The Stafford High senior exhibited nerves of steel on the balance beam following a couple of falls suffered by teammate Catie Frakes, nailing her routine with a winning score of 9.725 and lifting the Indians gymnastics team to a record sixth team title at yesterday's Winterfest Invitational at Colonial Forge High School.

"They pulled together, they worked together," commented Indians coach Shawn Thurston in a remarkably, near-empty Eagles' gym, owing undoubtedly to a report that it was snowing outside and the playoff game between the Washington Redskins and Seattle Seahawks had already started.

"Look at beam which was our last event," she added. "We had two falls from Catie and Allison came through. She stayed on that beam--there was a little pressure on her, but she shined. They all shined as a team."

The 15-team meet ran amazingly well, considering there was a power outage immediately following the forerunners' routines (emplyed so the judges can get their scoring in synch) and left the competitors and spectators in the dark for roughly 20 minutes.

Brooks also had a stellar performance on uneven bars (9.525) en route to a third-place finish in all-around (37.7).

Stonewall Jackson edged out Colonial Forge for the runner-up trophy in the blue division, 111.125-110.975. It was a gutty effort by the Eagles, who were without standout Sam Brooks, who was competing in a club cheerleading event in North Carolina.

"We respect Sam's decision to do cheerleading today," first-year coach Kate Reeves said. "We understand that sometimes there are choices to be made. We would rather lose her for Winterfest rather than have problems working things out with the coach later in the season around the time of districts, regionals and state."

Carissa Potente and newcomer Tameka Scott played vital roles in sparking North Stafford to the green division crown, representing the Wolverines' first title in three seasons.

"I didn't have amazing stuff, but I did pretty well," Potente reflected following her career-best 37.9 total in all-around. "Everyone pitched in what they needed to do. Overall, we did very well."

Follow us on

Date published: 1/15/2006