21 June 2011

UKA today announced the selections for the Aviva Great Britain and Northern Ireland team that will compete at the IAAF World Youth Championships in Lille, France, on July 6-10.

Headline names such as top-ranked UK under-20s Sophie McKinna (coach: Geoff Capes), Zak Seddon (coach: Jeff Seddon) and Georgia Peel (coach: Mick Woods) lead a group of 24 athletes who will take part in the event – the youngest age group global championships available to athletes and a crucial step in the development of Britain’s future stars.

Shot putter McKinna, who finished fifth at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games and has been throwing consistently over 15.50m this season, represents, together with Seddon and 800m runner Jessica Judd (coach: Jeremy Freeman), one of the Aviva GB & NI team’s best medal hopes: her personal best of 15.71m places her third in the world at the moment, while Judd is currently ranked second with a season’s best of 2:02.80.

100m hurdler Yasmin Miller (coach: Jared Deacon), pole vaulter Rowan May (coach: Peter Hill) and sprinter Desiree Henry (coach: Mike McFarlane) – who will travel to France at the age of 15 years and 10 months – are the youngest members of the team.

Georgia Peel (coach: Mick Woods), who finished a convincing sixth in the 1000m at last year’s Youth Olympics, earns selection off the back of some good performances culminating in her clocking a 4:16:55 in Watford two weeks ago, while Amy-Eloise Neale (coach: Frank Dauncey), fourth in the world in her age group, achieved the qualifying standard in the 2000m Steeplechase by clinching silver in the highly competitive American School National Championships.

Shot putter Sophie McKinna said: “I am going to the World Youth Championships to perform to the best of my abilities and I will be trying to come back home with a medal.

“I expect my main rivals to be Tianxi Guo from China, who is currently topping the World Rankings, and Fanny Roos from Sweden, who only recently beat my best distance by four cm.”

“The competition will be a brilliant way to add to my international experience and will stand me in good stead for the future; I am really looking forward to it.”

Team Leader Jo Jennings highlighted the importance of the World Youth Championships as a fundamental step in a young athlete’s development:

“Progressive Age Group Championships are an important part of an athlete’s pathway to success at the Senior World Championships and Olympic Games. The selections for the World Youth Championships will allow us to nurture some of our best talents and give these young athletes an important experience in major championships.”

“We have selected a very competitive young team for this Championships and the nominated athletes have shown extremely promising performances so far in this season – we are confident they will learn a great deal from this experience and achieve some strong results.”

AVIVA GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND TEAM

BOYS

100m:

Chijindu Ujah (Edwin Stephens) – Enfield & Haringey

200m:

Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake – Ilford

400m:

Alex Boyce (Stan Roberts) – Liverpool Harriers

800m:

Elliot Slade (Arwyn Davies) – Cardiff AAC; William Gurton (Nick Taylor) – Vale of Aylesbury

1500m:

Robbie Farnham-Rose (Mark Hookway) – Tonbridge; James McMurray (Deborah Steer) – St.Albans

2000m S/C:

Zak Seddon (Jeff Seddon) – Bracknell AC

Pole Vault:

Rowan May (Peter Hill) – Birchfield Harriers; Daniel Gardner (Beth Harris) – Stevenage & North Herts

Discus:

Nick Percy (William Bushnell) – Isle of Wight

Hammer:

Callum Brown (Lorraine Brown) – City of Norwich

GIRLS

200m:

Desiree Henry (Mike McFarlane) – Enfield & Haringey

800m:

Jessica Judd (Jeremy Freeman) – Chelmsford; Katie Snowden (James McDonald) – Herne Hill

1500m:

Georgia Peel (Mick Woods) – Aldershot, Farnham & District

2000m S/C:

Amy-Eloise Neale (Frank Dauncey) – Unattached

100mH:

Yasmin Miller (Jared Deacon) – Derby

400mH:

Hayley McLean (Steve Mitchell) – Chelmsford

Pole Vault:

Lucy Bryan (Neil Winter) – Bristol & West

Shot Put:

Sophie McKinna (Geoff Capes) – Great Yarmouth

Hammer:

Louisa James (Ron James) – Hastings AC; Kimberley Reed (Alan Bertram) – Edinburgh

Heptathlon:

Jazmin Sawyers (Tony Williams) – City of Stoke