29th June 2010

Juniors Face Mannheim Challenge

29 June 2010

Double World Youth champion and UK junior record holder Jodie Williams (coach: Mike McFarlane) is one of 31 athletes named onto the Aviva Great Britain & Northern Ireland junior team for the 17th Bauhaus Junioren Gala in Mannheim on 3-4 July 2010.

She’ll be joined by the in-form trio, pole vaulters Holly Bleasdale and Andrew Sutcliffe (both coached by Julien Raffalli-Ebezant) and long jumper Lorraine Ugen (coach: Frank Attoh), who recorded lifetime best performances in the recent Aviva European Trials and UK Championships.

Bleasdale, the UK junior record holder in the pole vault and runner up in the Aviva England Under-20 championships and World Junior Trials a week ago, finished second against senior opposition last weekend with an impressive 4.35m clearance, a mark which ranks her third equal in the world in her age group for 2010.

Her training partner Sutcliffe, also leading the UK age-group rankings this year courtesy of a second place finish in the Aviva UK Indoor Championships in February, finished fifth in Birmingham in a new outdoor best of 5.20m to reinforce his number one status.

Ugen, the UK’s number one junior long jumper in 2010, achieved a legal 6.29m effort to finish fourth, a mark comfortably in excess of the UKA qualification standard for the IAAF World Junior Championships this summer and a legitimate back up to her recent wind assisted 6.42m.

Sophie Hitchon (coach: Derek Evely) and Lawrence Okoye (coach: John Hillier) will also contribute to a strong Aviva GB & NI team line up for the Mannheim event.

Hitchon, the UK junior hammer record holder, Commonwealth Youth Games champion and European Junior Championship bronze medallist, adds major Championships experience to the line up, while rising discus star Okoye, second ranked junior in the world for 2010, has his first opportunity to gain international experience in the preparation period ahead of the IAAF World Junior Championships in Moncton, Canada next month (19-25 July 2010).

Kevin Tyler, UKA Strategic Head of Coaching and Development and World Juniors Team Leader said:

“We’ve selected a strong team for Mannheim given its importance in offering strong international competition ahead of the IAAF World Junior Championships this summer.”

“A number of those selected were named in our first wave of selections for World Juniors and we believe that this provides an excellent opportunity for them to demonstrate their medal potential. However, Mannheim also offers a small number of our athletes the chance to achieve World Junior qualifying standards prior to our final selection date on Monday 5 July.”

Aviva GB & NI Team

MEN

100m: Deji Tobais (Simon Duberley) – Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow; 200m: Kieran Showler-Davis (John Davis) – Basingstoke & Mid Hants; Danny Talbot (Dan Cossins) – Birchfield; 400m: Nathan Wake (Ayo Falola) – Herts Phoenix; 110mH: Jack Meredith (Donald Moss) – Liverpool; 400mH: Jack Green (June Plews) – Kent; Niall Flannery (Nick Dakin) – Gateshead; Pole Vault: Andrew Sutcliffe (Julien Raffalli-Ebezant) – Sale Harriers Manchester; Matt Devereux (Steve Rippon) – Newham & Essex Beagles; Long Jump: Kadeem Greenidge-Smith (Ian Roberts) – Harrow; Jermain Olason (Jonas Dodoo) – Blackheath & Bromley; Shot Putt: Anthony Oshodi (Ron Bowden) – Woodford Green with Essex Ladies; Discus: Lawrence Okoye (John Hillier) – Croydon; Zane Duquemin (John Hillier) – Jersey; Javelin: Daniel Pembroke (Kevin Pembroke) – WSEH; 4 x 100m Relay: Tobais; Showler-Davis; Talbot; Jordan Huggins (Mike McFarlane) – Enfield & Haringey; Junior Ejehu (Ayo Falola) – WGEL; Liam Clowes (Steve Walker) – Crewe & Nantwich

WOMEN

100m: Jodie Williams (Mike McFarlane) – Herts Phoenix; 200m: Emily Diamond (Jared Deacon) – Bristol & West; Ashlee Nelson (Michael Afilaka) – City of Stoke; 100mH: Rebecca Liddell (Kirk Barclay) – Gateshead; High Jump: Isobel Pooley (George Male) – Aldershot, Farnham & District; Pole Vault: Holly Bleasdale (Julien Raffalli-Ebezant) – Blackburn; Sally Scott (Steve Rippon) – Gateshead; Long Jump: Lorraine Ugen (Frank Attoh) – Blackheath & Bromley; Hammer: Sophie Hitchon (Derek Evely) – Blackburn; Myra Perkins (Alan Bertram) – Falkirk Victoria Harriers; 4 x 100m Relay: Williams; Nelson; Diamond; Marylyn Nwawulor (coach: Harry King/Carol Jackson) – Harrow; Jennie Batten (Roger Walters) – Stroud; Rebekah Wilson (Morris Condon) – Sale Harriers Manchester