There is no competition quite like the Aloha Invitational for Battlefield and host-team Stonewall Jackson.

The schools have been rivals ever since Battlefield opened five school years ago to relieve overcrowding at SJHS. But at the annual gymnastics meet in Manassas, the two schools are placed in seperate divisions, making it entirely possible to root for both teams with a clean conscious.

Fortunately for those in the stands, the western Prince William schools put up quite a showing Saturday afternoon as the Bobcats captured first place in the highly-competitive Maroon division and the Raiders grabbed the top title in the Gold division.

Junior Erin Turner led the way for Battlefield (111.70) by winning the all-around competition with an overall score of 37.675. Turner did not have to win by routinely dominating her opposition, though her victory on the uneven bars (9.625) came by 2.5 points over Lake Braddock's Emily Parillo.

Instead, she consistently performed well. She came in second on the balance beam after teammate Katie Surface edged her out 9.55 to 9.525 and took third on the floor (9.475). Both scored helped boost her sixth-place showing on the vault (9.05), by far her lowest of the day.

Battlefield's team victory did not come from Turner alone. Rather, the team placed at least two top-six finishers in each event. Junior Mandy Brown's 9.375 on the balance beam ensured that Bobcats claimed the top-three slots. No other Maroon team even had a single 9.0-or-higher finisher.

Brown's 9.125 on the uneven bars also placed her sixth in that event.

Freshman Alex Fairbanks, an all-around champion in her own right earlier this season, proved yet again to be a valuable asset for Battlefield. She was edged out of first place on the floor 9.6 to 9.525 by Parillo and posted a 9.1 showing on the vault, good enough for fourth place.

Meanwhile, Stonewall's Megan Hammel paved the way for the Raiders (99.975) to secure a 10.9-point victory over Mills Godwin. Despite putting up shakier-than-usual numbers, the Stonewall senior's third-place finish in the all-around came with victories on the floor (9.3) and vault (8.7), the latter of which was shared by all-around champion Hanna Stalik of Brooke Point. Hammel came in third on the uneven bars and, in an unusual twist, came in one-spot below third-place teammate Tanya Ramseyer on the balance beam.

The event marked Ramseyer's second top-eight finish as her 8.6 on the vault earned her fourth place.

Normally, it is not much of a surprise to those following Raider gymnastics for Hammel and Ramseyer to find themselves in the winner's circle in at least one event by the end of any given event.

There was a twist Saturday though from up-and-comer Meghan Poole. She raked in three top-eight spots of her own by showing up third on the floor (8.875), fourth on the uneven bars (8.025) and fifth on the balance beam (7.95) behind Hammel and Ramseyer. That score made Stonewall the only other team aside from Battlefield to place three girls in the top five in any event.