When Sebastian Brock went to his first yo-yo competition, he was awe-struck by the best players.

Five years later, Brock is one of them.

The 2007 Riverbend High School graduate was ranked third in the 1A, or string tricks, division at a recent international competition.

This division features original yo-yo tricks choreographed to music.

"I am so proud of him," said his mom, Barbara Brock, who lives in Spotsylvania County. "He set a goal for himself and he did it."

Brock picked up his first yo-yo when he 8, at FUNdaMENTALs, the downtown Fredericksburg toy store his mom owned. He learned some basic tricks, Barbara Brock recalled, then set the toy aside.

A few years later, he said, he found videos of the best players doing tricks he'd never seen. Advances in technology allow yo-yos to spin longer, letting players create better tricks.

"I watched the guys on there and thought that it was really cool and different," Brock said. "I just wanted to try and do something like that."

He studied videos of professional players, and he practiced at school, in lines and while watching TV.

"I remember wishing he'd study his schoolwork that hard," Barbara Brock said.

His first competition was the Mid-Atlantic Regional YoYo Contest in Wilmington, Del. when he was 14. He went to every competition he could for the next five years.

The hardest part at first, he said, was getting up and competing in front of crowds. His biggest challenge now is creating tricks that match the music, he said, "to make it more of a performance, rather than just yo-yoing on stage to music."

Over the summer, Sebastian placed third at the World Yo-Yo Contest in Orlando, Fla.

Brock said he normally has some regrets after a competition. He didn't have any after that performance.

"I'm third in the world," he said. "It's something to be proud of."

This fall, he placed first in his division at the Delaware regionals and second at the U.S. National Yo-Yo Contest in Chico, Calif.

Brock has other interests, too. He's a sophomore at the College of William & Mary, where he's studying government and film. He also plays soccer and plans to try out for the college's team.

He's also become interested in yo-yo technology.