With only 12 girls in town, Elite Gymnastics Inc., in Simpsonville headed to Atlanta for the Festival Rhythmic Nationals hoping for the best.

The team returned with champions in four of the five levels.

"We had gone to regional's several weekends ago and done well there," Elite coach Betty Goodwin said. "I knew we would be competing against some of the same girls, so I had a feeling we would do well."

Eight-year old Kayla Bramlett claimed the Level A title, with 8-year old Maria Jutton finishing first in Level B. Ariana Singeorzan, who celebrated her 11th birthday on Monday, was the national champion in Level C, while 15-year old Ashlyn Hall is the title holder in Level D.

Jutton, who recently returned to South Carolina after living in Romania with her family for a year and half, wasted little time getting back in the swing of things as she claimed her title despite being back in the states for little more than a week.

She managed to compete in several meets in Romania. Although she could not win any title since she was not a citizen, she was competitive in several meets.

"I felt I would have a pretty good chance at finishing in the top six in the all-around," Jutton said. "(Competing in Romania) helped give me more confidence. I hope this will help me to win more national competitions and I hope to one day be able to compete internationally when I grow up."

For Singeorzan, the ability to compete in rhythmic gymnastics at a high level has probably been in her future since birth as her mother, Christina Singeorzan, competed for Romania in the 1976 Olympics at Montreal.

"I was very excited about the competition, but worried I wouldn't get first," Singeorzan said. "But I tried to do my best. When I was doing my ball routine I felt things were going pretty good."

Like her teammates, Bramlett didn't enter the tournament expecting to finish first.

"I was surprised," said Bramlett. "I thought I was going to place third or fourth all-around. I was excited."

Bramlett hopes to remain with the sport for several years in an attempt to obtain her biggest goal.

"The Olympics," she said without hesitation.