Ellen Baines and Giselle Wright, students of Woldgate College, alongside team mate Leah Carroll who attends St Mary’s School in Pocklington and soon to attend St Mary’s top sports college in Hull, have returned from the prestigious Suzuki World Cup in Tokyo, Japan.

Having been part of 23 other countries Ellen, Giselle and Leah teamed with four other athletes from Southport Aerobic Gymnastics Club and fought their way through this world class event to place with the best ever yet results to date.

They competed in the 12-14 age group in the Trio Section and placed sixth overall in the semi-finals.

Ellen Baines in the Individual 12-14 Category just missed the final due to injury during performance. Ellen managed to continue to perform a very good routine and placed ninth overall. This left Leah Carroll - Great Britain’s only hope - to make the final. As her supporters watched nervously Leah presented her routine, being the youngest competitor in the event.

Everyone was thrilled with her performance and carefully kept a close eye on the score board. With Japan in the lead and some stiff competition from New Zealand, Thailand, China, Venezuela and Peru, chances to make the finals were tough. However, Leah made it happen by self belief and determination. The team were so proud when the MC called out the finalists and Great Britain were among them.

The finals took place the following day so coaches and competitors had to make sure that their routines were even more polished than in the semi-finals.

Leah was first to compete in the finals day, and gave a mature and professional performance throughout the whole event and certainly knew what she wanted to achieve. The plan was to move up at least one place to demonstrate improvement. Leah performed extremely well and finished in seventh place. This is fantastic for Great Britain as Leah is the first gymnast to achieve this at the Suzuki World Cup.

Everyone from the KLAS squad would like to congratulate Ellen, Giselle and Leah for a fantastic result. Well done girls!

Coach Kandy Lee Sissons is now working with both Leah and team mate Olivia Smith in their preparation for the American National Aerobic Championships to be held on 21 July in Las Vegas.

Kandy herself has been selected to represent Great Britain as a judge on the panel at this world class event where she also judged last year when it was held in Los Angeles.

Kandy told the Post: “I feel very privileged to be selected as the judges are an important part of the event. Only the highest qualified judges will be selected to ensure that the competitors have experts marking their performances.”

She continued: “Each country must nominate a judge with International experience and qualifications.