BERLIN, Md. - At the Pink Invitational in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, this weekend, local gym Twisters blew everyone away.
Carmella Solito, the owner and head coach of Twisters, proudly said, "We swept the competition. There were 1600 gymnasts, we won the USA Junior Olympic level 4, level 5, level 6 and level 7 team championships."
However, they were bringing home more than the honors.
A portion of the proceeds go to breast cancer research. Level 7 gymnast Neva Richardson described, "The cost goes to breast cancer, finding a cure, and that's awesome."
The funds came even closer to home. "One of our level 4 moms got struck with breast cancer back in December, so they're no longer able to be here. She's going through treatments and that kind of thing. And they actually got a $1,000 grant from the invitational," said Solito. "I told the girls they really needed to go for it, for her and for the cause."
It's these types of lifelong lessons that keep the gymnasts striving to be the best. Level 6 gymnast Drew Baker said, "You get to face your fears and do bigger skills, and you keep improving and improving."
Mallory Rolleston, a level 7 gymnast said, "Some things are hard, some things are easy, you just got to work hard to get through them."
For others, the rewards don't end there. 7-year-old Maggie Mitchell told WMDT, "You get to do cool kinds of flips and stuff. When I first did it, I was like, oh my gosh, I'm never going to make it. But when I got it, it's kinda fun...and you don't want to do anything else but those."
Another 7-year-old level 4 gymnast, Savanna Jurist, enjoys the end result. "We always get first place, and our coach said that we could have an ice cream party, and we would have it at the gym."
"Unite For Her," the non-profit behind the Pink Invitational, will donate funds to the "Living Beyond Breast Cancer" organization and to gymnasts and their families affected by breast cancer. Proceeds will also go to Wellness Days and education.