Costa Rican surfer Leilani McGonagle won the second place of the female U18 category at the VISSLA ISA World Surfing Junior Champioship in Japan.

This is the fourth time the Costa Rican athlete reaches the final of this event, and is the last time she will take part of this competition as she turns 18 this December.

Leilani went up against Kirra Pinkerton from the USA, Summer Macedo and Brisa Hennessy both from Hawaii. It was Hennessy who took the first place with a total score of 16.27, while McGonagle followed with 14.17; Macedo came in third with 12.53 and Pinkerton was last with 10.47.

In her first participation in this Jr. Championship in 2014, Leilani won Silver in U18 and Copper in U16, while in 2016 she won bronce in U16

The native of Pavones, Golfito has had a year of great achievements after winning the bronce medal in the ISA World Surfing Games in France back in May.

Costa Rica’s Junior Surf Team had a good performance in general, they won the fourth place of the Aloha Cup, ISA’s mixed-gender relay event. The team remains in the top 10 teams in the world and the points earned by McGonagle contribute greatly to this result.