ADAMS TWP — Jump into gymnastics or stop jumping off the bed.

Marin Raible chose the former. She was 3 years old then.

She is a national champion gymnast as a Mars Area Centennial School fifth-grader now.

“She was always very active, even when she was little,” Marin's mother, Jessica Raible, recalled. “She started doing flips off her bed.

“Before she'd go to bed, she'd get a running start and do a flip on to her bed. I said enough was enough. She was gonna take gymnastics and learn to do that stuff in a safe way or she was gonna stop doing it.”

Her mother said Marin wasn't crazy about taking gymnastics at first. She was 4 and in the pre-school class.

It didn't take long for her to take to the sport.

“It's a fun way to meet people,” Marin said. “I like every event, everything we do. I don't have a favorite.”

Once she got to Level 4 — at age 7 — she was eligible to compete.

“It didn't take long before she took off,” Mrs. Raible said.

Now a Level 7 gymnast, Marin qualified for the Pennsylvania All-Star team this season. That squad consists of two teams of six gymnasts each.

Marin made that team after missing a chance to qualify last season. She was battling pneumonia at the time.

“She lost a solid month or more in the gym,” XCel Gymnastics owner Lindsey Stancil, Marin's coach, said. “And we're talking about someone who comes in here every day.

“When Marin came back, she openly set a goal of making the Pa. team and competing at nationals. That was a crazy high goal and she did it. That's the kind of drive and determination this fifth-grader has. That's what sets her apart.”

Marin said she was “bored” while battling pneumonia.

“I couldn't do anything,” she said of gymnastics. “I couldn't wait to get back. That was my goal, to get on the (state) team. I did enough to qualify.”

Marin made the Pa. team by placing among the top six — regardless of age — at a qualifier meet in November.

She went on to compete at the National Association of Women's Gymnastics Judges (NAWGJ) National Judges Cup Gymnastic Championships this past winter in Santa Clara, Calif. She earned first place on the Vault with a score of 9.250 and first place All Around with a combined score of 37.375.

“This season was redemption for her,” Stancil said. “Marin is a very strong vaulter, but she's beautiful on the floor, too. She is a pretty dancer, very elegant.

“This girl pays such attention to detail. She focuses on all the little things. She spends a lot of time in the gym, but she doesn't see it as training or practice or repetition. This is all fun to her.

“What other younger gymnasts view as extremely challenging or hard, Marin sees as exciting and fun,” Stancil added.

Marin does the bulk of her gymnastics practice in the morning, three days a week. She arrives at XCel at 6:30 a.m. on weekdays and practices until 11:30 a.m.

She also spends four and a half hours in the gym Saturday afternoons and four hours there on Sunday mornings.

“We drop her off early in the morning and her grandmother picks her up and takes her to school for the rest of the day,” Mrs. Raible said. “Marin cyber-schools the classes she misses in the morning.

“We like it this way because she gets more time with her coach, as the morning class is less crowded, and she gets her evenings free with family.”

An excellent student as well, Marin fits into that positive side factor of being a gymnast.

“I've had one gymnast in 25 years who wasn't an excellent student,” Stancil said. “It goes with the discipline of the sport.

“Gymnastics is 80 to 90 percent mental. When you're Level 7 at her age, you have the physical talent you need. So few people, especially kids, know what it's like to work your true hardest. That's what this sport brings out in kids.”

Stancil added that Marin can go “as far as she wants” in the sport.

And she wants to go far.

“I'm going to be doing this for a long time,” Marin said of gymnastics. “I use my days off to allow my body to recover, then I'm back for more. I love it.

“My goal is to get a college scholarship some day. That's what I'm aiming for.”