19 April 2011

Defending champions Ola Abidogun (coach: Steven Thomas) and Holly Neill (coach: Andrew Roda) retained their titles with victories in the T46 100m (11.56) and F40 shot putt (6.62m) respectively on the second day of competition at the 2011 IWAS World Junior Championships (17-21 April).

17 medals were won on the second day of the track and field programme, contributing to an impressive overall medal total of 18 to date for the Aviva Great Britain and Northern Ireland under-23 team.

Abidogun, who narrowly missed out on a medal in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi when finishing fifth in a lifetime best of 11.32, clocked 11.56 for gold (under-20 category) on this occasion, while Neill, competing in the under-23 age group, took shot putt gold with 6.62m.

Kieran Tscherniawsky (coach: Jim Edwards), an Aviva GB & NI senior representative in January’s IPC Athletics World Championships, continued his impressive progress with a PB and gold medal in the men’s F33 under-23 discus, exceeding 28m for the first time ever with a mark of 28.06m.

Middle distance specialist Dean Miller (coach: Bud Baldaro) also recorded a lifetime best with a 4:27.04 clocking to take victory in the men’s under-23 T37 1500m.

Also securing World Junior titles, Will Smith (coach: Jenny archer) – who won four silver medals in this competition 12 months ago – build on his T54 silver medal on day one with victory in the T54 under-18 100m (16.20), while Sean Clare (coach: Shelley Holroyd), double bronze medallist a year ago, won gold in the under-20 F40 discus (25.40m). 

Commonwealth Games silver medallist Jenny McLouglin (coach: Darrell Maynard), the IPC World Championships relay bronze medallist, added to her global medal tally with victory in the T37 under-23 100m (15.08).

Senior World Championships 200m bronze medallist Sally Brown (coach: Philip Tweedy) – double silver medallist in last year’s edition of this event and one of the youngest members of the team at only 15-years old – finished second in the T46 under-23 100m in a PB of 13.15 while also on the track, Hannah Cockroft (coach: Peter Eriksson), World Record holder in the T34 category, finished runner up in the T34/T53 under-23 100m (19.15).

In the field events, Joshua Bain (coach: Paul Welch) took second in the F37 under-18 discus (30.31), 2010 double gold medallist Owain Taylor (coach: Anthony Hughes) – who also took bronze in the F57 under-23 discus (31.51m) – finished second in the F57 under-20 javelin (20.01m), and under-23 athletes Vicky Silk (coach: Anthony Hughes), a multiple medallist in 2010, and Jonathan Adams (coach: Malcolm Wallace), secured silver in the F40 shot putt (6.45m) and F34 discus (29.08m) respectively.

Completing the day’s medal tally, Dan Lucker (coach: Jenny Archer), defending champion in five events, kicked of his five-race campaign – which would have been six had a puncture not prevented him racing his opening event on day one – with bronze in the T54 under-20 100m (16.64) while Matthew Hickling (coach: Paul Moseley), competing with T53 athletes, finished third in the T34 under-23 100m (18.56) and IPC World Championships fourth place finisher Scott Moorhouse (coach: Dan Pfaff) was third in the F42 under-23 javelin (40.02m).  

Shannon Wallace (coach: Mikail Huggins) in the T35 100m, Thomas Green (coach: Ken green) in the F32 discus and Kyron Duke (coach: Anthony Huges) in the F40 discus all finished just outside the medals in their respective events in fourth.