Katarina Johnson-Thompson for Loughborough
2009 World Youth Champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson (coach: Mike Holmes) will contest the 100m hurdles and the long jump as part of the 52-strong Aviva Great Britain and Northern Ireland junior team that will compete in next weekend’s Loughborough International (Sunday 20 May).
The event, one of the first major competitions of the outdoor season, is an important stepping stone on the way to next July’s IAAF World Junior Championships in Barcelona and will act as an early indicator of form, with the athletes looking to cement their place in the eyes of the selectors.
Liverpool Harrier Johnson-Thompson, who currently tops the rankings for her age group in five events, got her season off to a flying start when she smashed her heptathlon PB by over 200 points last weekend (5/6 May). Her score of 6007, which was only the 11th British performance to exceed 6000 points, broke Jessica Ennis’s UK junior record of 5910 and bettered the Olympic B standard of 5950.
The male half of the team will be spearheaded by 2011 European Junior Championships gold medallist David Bolarinwa (John Powell); the Newham & Essex Beagles athlete, who won England Athletics Under-20 titles over 100m and 200m in addition to his European honours last summer, has been selected alongside European 100m silver medallist Adam Gemili (Michael Afilaka), the current under 20 world leader with a time of 10.23.
Bolarinwa – also a European Junior 100m bronze medallist – will be aiming for a strong result in the 200m, in which he set a PB of 20.78 last month, while Gemili has been selected for the shorter distance.
A number of athletes will look to follow in Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s footsteps and graduate successfully from the World Youth Championships on to the Junior stage; 2011 World Youth medallists Sophie McKinna (Geoff Capes) and Lucy Bryan (Charles Preston) will compete in the shot put and pole vault respectively, as discus thrower Nick Percy (John Hillier), hammer specialist Callum Brown (Lorraine Brown) and hurdler Hayley McLean (Steve Mitchell) – also members of the Aviva GB & NI team in Lille- link up once again with their former team mates.
Newly crowned BUCS 1500m Champion Jennifer Walsh (Deborah Rowlands), who achieved the qualifying time for the World Junior Championships with her winning run at the Olympic Stadium, will aim to keep up the good form that saw her triumph last Monday with a new PB (4:17.98), while Sophie Papps, winner in the 100m at the 2011 European Youth Olympic Festival, will also aim to build on her double success at BUCS, where she set PBs to win both the 100m (11.61) and the 200m (23.62).
Alan Richardson, Team Leader for both the Loughborough International and the World Junior Championships, highlighted the importance of next week’s event: “Loughborough is a great chance for our juniors to compete against senior counterparts giving them quality competition early in the season. As in past seasons, this event marks the start of an important summer schedule as they work towards qualification for the World Junior Championships.”
Information about the event can be found through the following link to the Loughborough website.
Visit the Loughborough University Ticketline to purchase tickets in advance – a sell out crowd is expected so make sure you buy yours in time.
Entry for coaches with a valid pass is £1.00 and will provide access to the warm up and spectator zones.
AVIVA GB&NI JUNIOR TEAM
MEN
100m: Adam Gemili (Michael Afilaka) – Blackheath & Bromley; 200m: David Bolarinwa (John Powell) – Newham & Essex Beagles; 400m: Clovis Asong (Keith Hunter) – Sale Harriers Manchester; 800m: Charlie Grice (Jon Bigg) – Phoenix AC; 1500m: Matthew Fayers (Stevan Dokic) – Hillingdon AC; 3000m: Thomas Purnell (Christopher Frapwell) – Stroud; 110mH: James Gladman (James Hillier) – Warrington; 400mH: Matthew Lavoipierre (Billy Jeweres) – Basingstoke & Mid Hants; 3000mSC: Jack Partridge (Rupert Pepper) – Poole Runners; 4x100m: Gemili; Bolarinwa; Jordan Kirby Polidore (Craig Burrow) – Woodford Green Essex Ladies; Chjindu Ujah (Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo) – Enfield & Haringey; Roy Ejiakuekwu (Keith Hunter) – Sale Harriers Manchester; Tom Holligan (Keith Ridley) – Edinburgh AC; 4x400m: Asong; Alex Boyce (Robert Roberts) – Liverpool Harriers; David Lagerberg – Mansfield; Owen Smith (Caroline Sayer) – Deeside AAC; Luke South (Mike Corden) – City of Sheffield; George Caddick (Dominic Tighe) – Sale Harriers Manchester; High Jump: Chris Kandu (John Herbert) – Enfield & Haringey; Pole Vault: Jax Thoirs (Colin Sinclair) – Glasgow City; Long Jump: Elliot Safo (John Shepherd) – Croydon; Triple Jump: Jose Martin-Fullerton (Kevin Reeve) – Birchfield Harriers; Shot Put: Scott Lincoln (Paul Wilson) – City of York; Discus Throw: Nick Percy (John Hillier) – Shaftesbury Barnet; Javelin Throw: Huw Bevan (David Parker) – Bridgnorth; Hammer Throw: Callum Brown (Lorraine Brown) – City of Norwich.
WOMEN
100m: Bianca Williams (Lloyd Cowan) – Enfield & Haringey; 200m: Sophie Papps (Neil Dodson) – Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow; 400m: Kirsten McAslan (Trevor Painter) – Sale Harriers Manchester; 800m: Emily Dudgeon (John Lees) – Edinburgh AC; 1500m: Jennifer Walsh (Deborah Rowlands) – Spenborough; 3000m: Jessica Lonsdale (Adrian Chrismas) – Kingston upon Hull; 100mH: Katarina Johnson-Thompson (Mike Holmes) – Liverpool Harriers; 400mH: Hayley McLean (Steve Mitchell) – Chelmsford; 3000mSC: Pippa Woolven (Janet Nash) – Wycombe; 4x100m: Papps; Williams; Steffi Wilson (Graeme Gourlay) – Poole AC; Desiree Henry (Mike McFarlane) – Enfield & Haringey; Dina Asher-Smith (John Blackie) – Blackheath & Bromley; Rachel Johncock (Philip Oliver) – Colwyn Bay AC; 4x400m: McAslan; Katie Snowden (James McDonald) – Herne Hill; Diane Ramsay (Rodger Harkins) – Victoria Park City of Glasgow; Leah Barrow (Alan Hewson) – Winsor Slough Eton & Hounslow; Millie Clifford (Todd Bennett) – Southampton; High Jump: Morgan Lake (Eldon Lake) – Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow; Pole Vault: Lucy Bryan (Charles Preston) – Bristol & West; Long Jump: Johnson-Thompson; Triple Jump: Ahtollah Rose (Keith Hunter) – Sale Harriers Manchester; Shot Put: Sophie McKinna (Geoff Capes) – Great Yarmouth; Discus Throw: Shadine Duquemin (John Hillier) – Shaftesbury Barnet; Javelin Throw: Freya Jones (William Bushnell) – Southampton; Hammer Throw: Abbi Carter (Dave Smith) – Kingston upon Hull.
