15th August 2018

STRING OF PODIUM PERFORMANCES HELP GB JUNIORS TO THIRD PLACE AT MANCHESTER INTERNATIONAL

Great Britain & Northern Ireland U20s took three victories to secure third place overall in the third Manchester International match at Sportcity with 102 points.

England secured overall victory after claiming 154 points, with the British Athletics League (BAL) team coming second with 125 points.

There were three U20 victories, led by Kristal Awuah (coach: Matthew Thomas, club: Herne Hill Harriers), who took bronze in the women’s 100m and 4x100m at the World U20 Championships, clocking 11.37 (3.2m/s) as she surged to victory in the women’s 100m.

World Junior Championship gold medallist Jake Norris (Paul Dickenson, Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow) threw a best of 78.91m for victory in the men’s hammer, while Dominic Ogbechie (Marius Guei / Carol Jackson, Highgate Harriers) won the men’s high jump on countback after clearing a best of 2.04m.

Important points for the British team came courtesy of a string of second and third place finishes across the match, led by the personal best performances of Bekah Walton (David Turner, Blackheath & Bromley) and Lewis Byng (Paul Bearman, Stratford-upon-Avon).

Walton produced a strong throw in blustery conditions to cement her spot in the top two having led for a long spell in the women’s javelin with a best effort of 49.23m in blustery conditions, while Byng threw the shot out to 17.37m a new personal best with the weight. Scott Lincoln (Paul Wilson, City of York) won for England with 18.51m.

Josie Oliarnyk (Dominic McNiellis, Halesowen) took second in the women’s long jump with a best effort of 6.12 (0.5m/s), while in the men’s equivalent, Shandell Taylor (Trevor Wells, Havering) claimed third with 7.40m (2.1m/s).

The triple jump saw Osaze Aghedo (Steve Ingram, Swansea) and Abazz Shayaam-Smith (Daniel Parton, Birchfield Harriers) finish third in the men’s and women’s triple jump with 14.99m (2.1m/s) and 12.68 (1.2m/s) respectively, while European U18 Championship finalist Hannah Molyneaux (Malcolm Fenton, Sheffield & Dearne) threw the shot 13.34m for third.

Ethan Brown (Lloyd Cowan, Blackheath & Bromley), who claimed silver at the European U18 Championships in Gyor, took third in 47.86, as 4x400m World U20 bronze medallist Alex Haydock-Wilson (Earl Herbert, WSEH), who claimed victory for England in 47.30, a shade outside his personal best.

In the women’s equivalent, Natasha Harrison (Pete Torrance, Stockport) took second for the women in 54.47 in difficult conditions as England claimed another victory, Phillipa Lowe (Dacorum & Tring) winning in 53.65.

Kaie Chambers-Brown (Sharon Morris, Birchfield Harriers) was just 0.01 outside his personal best, but his heavily wind-assisted 10.35 (3.4m/s) was only good enough for third as Tommy Ramdhan (Ryan Freckleton, Bexley) took gold in 10.22.

Isabelle Boffey (Douglas Stone, Enfield & Haringey) clocked 2:07.82 as she finished third in the women’s 800, despite leading for long spells of the race, while Alex Barbour (Shireen Higgins, WSEH) also claimed third in the women’s 3000m steeplechase with a time of 11:09.87.

There was a double for the British Junior 3000m walkers as Ana Garcia (Mark Wall, Sheffield & Dearne) and Chris Snook (Verity Snook, Aldershot, Farnham & District) both achieved third place finishes in the mixed race.

On their British debuts, Alex Barbour (Shireen Higgins, WSEH) and Tom Hewson (Andover) took third and second respectively in the women’s 3000m steeplechase and the men’s javelin.

Rebecca Hawkins (John Bancroft, Bexley) equalled the 1.73m winning height in the women’s high jump, but missed out on victory on countback, while in the women’s hammer, Katie Head claimed bronze with a best of 57.45m.

The 4x100m relays at the close of the programme saw the British junior women home second behind England, who won in 45.47. The junior quartet of Vera Chinedu (Ryan Freckleton, Cambridge Harriers), Hannah Kelly (Les Hall, Bolton), Amy Hunt (Joe McDonnell, Charnwood) and Cassie-Ann Pemberton (Sharon Morris, Birchfield Harriers) produced slick changeovers to earn the British Juniors their final points of the evening.

Elsewhere, Alicia Barrett (Chesterfield, Toni Minichiello) clocked 13.28 (1.5m/s) as conditions dipped to a legal level, while Kimbely Baptiste (Crawley AC) was denied a 200m season’s best of 23.39 by a 3.3m/s tailwind.