25 July 2014

Shannon Hylton (coach: John Blackie, club: Blackheath & Bromley) was the highlight of day four at the IAAF World Junior Championships for GB & NI as she finished fourth in the 200m on a sunny evening at Hayward Field in Eugene.

Hylton ran a superb race to finish fourth from lane eight, crossing the line in 23.25 and missing out on a medal by just one tenth of a second.

She said: “I was really happy. I got out well and it was really close coming into the home straight. I’m really pleased because I ran from lane eight so I’m happy with how it went.”

In the men’s 200m, Tom Somers (Geoffrey Barraclough, City of York) finished in seventh place with a time of 20.92. Having run two personal bests in the rounds, including an incredible 20.37 in the semi-finals, the 17 year old was keen to take the positives from his experience.

He said: “My preparation felt really good but maybe the nerves got to me being in this stadium. I can’t complain; I came out here and ran two PBs and made the final so I couldn’t be much happier but I wish I performed a bit better in the final. There’s things to work on and I’ve came out with a lot of positives from this performance.”

Chris Kandu (John Herbert, Enfield & Haringey) matched Somers’ performance in the high jump as he also finished seventh with a best clearance of 2.20m. He had passed on 2.22m and then registered three failures at 2.24m but stressed the value he gained from competing on the global stage.

Kandu said: “It was an experience. One of the people I’m working with, Fuzz Ahmed, told me that whatever happens here doesn’t dictate what happens a senior so just go out and enjoy it, which I did. I know there’s more to come from me but being out here was a great experience and a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Taylor Campbell (Paul Dickenson, WSEH) finished ninth in the final of the men’s hammer with a best throw of 73.12m. Having thrown 70.38m in the first round he then fouled in the second round before improving to 73.12m in the third to briefly move up to eighth. However he then dropped to ninth place on countback and missed out on the chance to take another three throws.

Morgan Lake (Eldon Lake, Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow), who won world junior heptathlon gold on Wednesday, returned to the track for the qualifying of the individual high jump, an event in which she set a new British junior record of 1.94m during the heptathlon competition.

The 17 year old made sure of qualification for the final with a second time clearance at the automatic qualification mark of 1.85m and will compete for a second world junior medal on Sunday.

Yasmin Miller (Lloyd Cowan, Derby AC) ran a good race in the heats of the 100m hurdles to ensure smooth qualification to Saturday’s semi-finals. She won her heat in 13.37, a time just three hundredths of a second outside of her personal best.

Shona Richards (Marina Armstrong, WSEH) was dominant in the semi-finals of the women’s 400m hurdles. Richards won the second semi-final with a time of 57.08, making her the fastest qualifier for tomorrow’s final. In the last semi-final Jessica Turner (Nick Dakin, Amber Valley) ran a brave race from lane eight and finished fifth with a time of 60.39.

GB & NI will have two women in the 1500m final as Bobby Clay (Peter Mullervy, Invicta East Kent) and Amy Griffiths (Mick Woods, Aldershot Farnham & District) ran well to make it through the heats. Clay ran a season’s best 4:16.56 to finish in the third of the four automatic qualifying positions in heat one before Griffiths finished fifth in heat two, her time of 14:16.22 the first fastest loser to make it through.

On what was a good morning for GB & NI in the middle distance events, Kyle Langford (George Harrison, Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers) and Theo Blundell (Eddie Cockayne, Birchfield Harriers) made it through to the semi-finals of the men’s 800m. With the top three automatically qualifying, both men finished second in their heats with Langford running a time of 1:49.73 and Blundell running 1:49.89.

GB & NI’s women’s 4x100m relay team of Ama Pipi (Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo, Enfield & Haringey), Cheriece Hylton (John Blackie, Blackheath & Bromley), Imani Lansiquot (Lorna Boothe, Sutton & District) and Desiree Henry (Rana Reider, Enfield & Haringey) were unable to qualify for the final. A dropped baton on the final changeover meant that they didn’t complete the race.

There was more bad news for GB & NI in the men’s 4x100m. The baton was dropped on the second changeover and the team of Reuben Arthur (Tawiah-Dodoo, Enfield & Haringey), Roy Ejiakwekwu (Keith Hunter, Sale Harriers Manchester), Chris Stone (Alastair Abrams, Bristol & West) and Marvin Popoola (Les Johnson, Herne Hill) also missed out on a place in the final.

In javelin qualifying Freddie Curtis (Petteri Piironen, Marshall Milton Keynes) fouled on all three of his three attempts and therefore didn’t qualify for the final.