20^th Decemeber 1999

Sorry that it has taken such a long time for me to update after the Canberra Cup. I have been really, really busy lately at work.

I only manage to attend the first night of the Canberra Cup for personal reasons but it was still great to get the opportunity to see Brooke and the other Aussie girls perform. I have not had the chance to speak to Brooke since she return to Melbourne but I am sure she will fill me in on all of the news for Canberra and perhaps will write a message about the event.

The Canberra Cup drew some quality gymnasts and the level of skill performed clearly represented this. It was however somewhat at the cost of consistency. Brooke had a mixed night with some strong performances on vault and bars and a few mishaps on the other events to finish in 12^th place…somewhat of a shock to many of the spectators. I felt sure despite the errors she had secured a top 10 finish.

Brooke's performance on vault was good enough to advance to the EF's with the withdrawal of team-mate Melinda Cleland. She came really close to repeating her bronze medal effort in 1998 but had to contend herself with a well earned 4^th place finish behind Maria Zassypkina, Lindsey Vanden Eykel and AA champion Danielle Hypolito. All in all Brooke cannot be too disappointed with her performance in Canberra!

8^th December 1999

The results of the Australian Team for the Canberra Cup held today (8^th November 1999) are in and I am really pleased to announce that not only did Brooke qualify for the team but she won the trials with an AA total of 35.623.

Given the scores to emerge from the trial, it appears that either the Aussie judges were being very tough (not entirely unusual), or that most of the girls had a rough day. Brooke produced her best score on floor where her brand new tumbling passes led her to a 9.316. All of her other scores were on the mid-high 8's, a common range for many of the girls.

Brooke will be joined in the Australian team by two Victorian teammates, Melinda Cleland, Jessica White, from QLD Danielle Kelly and Kylie Tanner and from the home team (the AIS) Alexandra Croak, Michelle Haywood and Kayla Jordan. The Aussie team is provides for a nice mix of youth and experience with Brooke, Melinda and Alexandra all seasoned competitors at this level.

AA 35.623 (1^st)

V 8.975 (3^rd)

UB 8.666 (3^rd)

BB 8.666 (6^th)

FX 9.316 (1^st)

23^rd November 1999

Brooke is still completing final preparations in Victoria for her trip to the prestigious Canberra Cup in a fortnight. Brooke, along with Victorian team-mates Melinda Cleland, Rachel Kmetko and newcomers including Jessica Zarnay and Jessica White will make the trip to Canberra on the 6^th December for the pre-comp Australian trials at the AIS. The meet line-up has been announced and it is another exciting group of athletes heading to Canberra including talented American's Lindsey Vanden Eykel and Brittany Talbert, Brazillian star Daniele Hypolito, the familiar face of talented Japanese gymnast Kumi Fujiwara and a strong Russian team of Maria Zassypkina and Natalia Outchevankina.

cont…

Brooke has upgraded her routines since April. The upgrades are on floor exercise. At the Canberra Cup Brooke will debut a new first pass on floor (whip-2 and 1/2 twist-punch front tucked) and also a new last pass (double twist forwards). Goodluck with those upgrades Brooke!