Student Athletes take part in Gymnastics National Schools Finals

Students Ethan Parker, Jessica Ellen and Chloe Wilkinson have just recently competed in the Milano Team National Schools Finals for the British Schools Gymnastics Association.

The trio were awarded runner up in the national competition which took place in Stoke on Trent, they also achieved the silver medal in the under 19’s mixed trio category. They were measured against their performance in the individual vault, individual floor and trio group routine.

Ethan achieved the highest vault score in a competition of approximately 500 competitors, split over a variety of age groups ranging from u11’s to u19’s. He scored 15.55 out of a maximum of 16 points.

Carl Jones, Sunderland College TASS Dual Career Academic Coordinator said:

“Ethan and Jessica are both committed to their sport and studies here at the college. They are absolutely dedicated in their approach to succeeding in the classroom and in an elite sport setting whey they find an excellent balance between their dual career pathways. Ethan is currently striving to achieve his target grade of DDD with outstanding coursework this academic year in Research Project and Sports Injuries whilst Jessica works towards completing her portfolio assessments in concept art, animation and games design where she is aiming to achieve Distinction criteria this academic year. It is credit to both that with the volume of engagement in their sport that they currently have, that academic flexibility is essential in order for them to continue to succeed on their main programme. We are all proud of both Ethan and Jessica’s efforts so far, keep up the good work!”

Ethan and Jessica Level 3 BTEC Extended Diploma Sport & Exercise Sciences and Next Gen Aim Diploma Level 3 students added:

“It has been an amazing experience, very enjoyable and eye opening. To showcase our skills on this platform in the National finals in Stoke on Trent against a range of different athletes all of whom displayed an impressive skill level, it was brilliant to be a part of. It was impressive just to observe individual performance and having the opportunity to consider how this could potentially shape our future practice. We have been to the venue on more than one occasion and felt comfortable with our surroundings, although you still experience performance nerves it’s about how you cope and handle the pressure to keep up with the sporting demands. We believe this has led to our recent success in the sport. We would like to thank our coaches Lauren and Jane Henderson as well as Joe Cohoon and all at Grindon Gymnastics Club for their continued support. Hopefully we can continue to make strides in our sport by bringing back Gold in May!”

The college as a whole wishes the Ethan and Jessica good luck for Nationals in May, where they will compete in the u19 mixed pair routine for the British Schools Gymnastics Association in Fenton Manor, Stoke on Trent.