16th June 2018

QUARTET ACHIEVE WORLD JUNIORS SPOTS AT BEDFORD U20/U23 CHAMPIONSHIPS

Four athletes secured automatic selection to the British team for the IAAF World Junior Championships in Finland next month and two more hit the World Junior qualifying standard in Bedford at the England Athletics U20/U23 Championships.

Jake Norris (coach: Paul Dickenson, club: Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow) shattered his own U20 British record in the men’s hammer throw to win with 80.45m, a new stadium record.

Bayley Campbell (Dickenson, WSEH) put in a strong showing to finish second with a best of 73.42m.

Speaking after setting the record and securing his spot on the British team, Norris said: “I’m feeling good and I’m really excited to see what comes this season.

“World Juniors was my goal at the start of the season and winning today takes a massive weight off my shoulders. I feel this is one of the first times I can compete for gold.”

Molly Caudery (Stuart Caudery, Cornwall AC) took victory in the women’s pole vault with a best of 4.20m with Under-18 athlete Jade Spencer-Smith (Ellie Spain, Harrow) second in 3.90m and Felicia Miloro (Maxined Robbins, Sutton-in-Ashfield) third with 3.75m.

Caudery achieved the 4.10m standard at the Commonwealth Games, where she finished fifth with a best of 4.40m and is delighted to have followed that performance up with another strong showing on the runway.

She said: “4.20m today is a really solid height. My main aim for the year is to get to the World Juniors and get a medal and knowing I’m definitely going is a really good feeling.

“Today was really windy and it was a difficult competition and I’m really happy with the way my vaulting is going at the minute, now it’s all about fine-tuning for the World Juniors.”

The U20 100m was the event that stole the show on the track as Kristal Awuah (Matthew Thomas, Herne Hill) set a  personal best of 11.38 (-0.2ms) in the semi-final, before clocking 11.51 to take victory in the final and secure automatic selection for the World Junior team.

Speaking after the race, Awuah added: “It felt amazing to get a PB in the semi-finals and then to know I’ve got automatic selection for the World Juniors is special.

“It would be everything I’ve worked towards if I can get a medal if I keep producing performances like that, it’s an exciting time for me.”

The men’s 100m produced similar exploits as Kai Chambers-Brown (Sharon Morris, Birchfield Harriers) took more than three tenths off his personal best with a stunning 10.35 run in the men’s U20 100m semi-final and was chased hard by Dom Ashwell (Shaftesbury Barnet), who also achieved the World Junior standard of 10.45.

In the final, they had to settle for bronze and silver respectively as Chad Miller (Ryan Freckleton, Hercules Wimbledon) won in 10.36, taking 0.08 off his personal best; the latter securing his place in the team for Tampere

Jake Heyward (Cardiff AC, James Thie) is in prime position ahead of tomorrow’s men’s 1500m final after winning his heat in a little over four minutes.

After his race, he assessed: “I’m the only person in the field with the standard so it’s up to me to perform, but it gives me confidence and I’ve won here twice before.

“To get a third title would mean a lot to me. It was one of my goals when we sat down in the winter and I really want to achieve that.”

Morgan Lake (Fuzz Caan, Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow) cleared 1.90m to comfortably take victory in the women’s U23 high jump, but it was fellow field star Alice Hopkins (Marcia Marriott, Oxford City) who had the long jump competition of her career to date as she leapt a significant lifetime best.

She broke her personal best by 46cm in the women’s U23 long jump to win with a distance of 6.46m, while also out in the field, Daniel Bainbridge (Michael McNeil, Shaftesbury Barnet) also threw a personal best 69.00m to win the men’s javelin.

Tom Gale (Denis Doyle, Bath) took the men’s U23 high jump title with a best of 2.16m from Lewis Maguire (Ken Allan, Shaftesbury Barnet) with a best of 2.12m, who recorded silver.

Niamh Emerson (David Feeney, Amber Valley & Erewash) improved her javelin personal best by over three metres to 43.74m, finishing third behind Bethan Rees (Mark Pinner, Cannock & Stafford).

Elsewhere, Shannon Hylton and Tommy Ramdhan (both Ryan Freckleton) secured the U23 100m titles, the former in a personal best of 11.44 (+0.3) and the latter in 10.36 (-0.1).

Full results will be available on the England Athletics website.