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World juniors puzzle welcomes final piece
Providing the final piece to the Australian team puzzle bound for the 13th IAAF world junior championships is a nine-strong contingent of middle distance runners and walkers.
To be held in Moncton (CAN) from July 19 to 25, the championships will provide the first opportunity for the Australian junior athletics team to compete under its new name, the Spark, as the 36 selected athletes take their first steps toward igniting the Flame, Australia’s senior international athletics team.
Flying out on Thursday of next week (July 8), the team will compete at the Kajaks International Track Classic and the Trevor Craven Memorial Meet as they spend a week acclimatising in Vancouver (CAN) ahead of arriving in the host city on July 14.
Heading to Canada for the two-lap race are Kuey Diew and Adrian Plummer, both of Queensland.
A member of the Athletics Australia Under 19 Talent Squad, Diew will also line up in the 4x400m relay. A dual gold medallist at the Pacific Schools Games in 2008, the 17-year-old this year won an Under 20 800m silver medal at the Australian Junior Athletics Championships in March and boasts 400m and 800m personal bests of 47.47 (Sydney, March 2010) and 1:50.30 (Gold Coast, November 2009) respectively.
Plummer followed Diew across the line to secure the Under 20 800m bronze medal at the Australian Junior Athletics Championships. This followed a new personal best time of 1:50.37 at the Brisbane Athletics Classic in February for the 18-year-old, who holds a Queensland Academy of Sport scholarship.
In the men’s 1500m, 2009 world cross country championships representative (junior race) Brett Robinson will join Under 20 1500m national champion Todd Wakefield on the start line.
A 1500m and 3000m gold medallist at the 2008 Pacific Schools Games, Robinson improved his personal best across both distances to 3:42.37 (1500m) and 8:13.37 (3000m) in February to get his year off to a flying start. Competing at the Australian Junior Athletics Championships the following month, the 19-year-old from Canberra took home a silver medal in the Under 20 1500m, crossing the line in a time of 3:42.97.
A Commonwealth Youth Games 1500m representative in 2008, Wakefield’s selection provides the New South Welshman with his second opportunity to compete for Australia at an international level. A scholarship holder at Sydney University, the 19-year-old set a new personal best of 3:44.84 at the Waratah Invitational only a fortnight before securing his Under 20 national crown in a time of 3:47.44.
Flying the Australian flag over 5000m is Kevin Batt of New South Wales. The Under 20 national champion, Batt was a keen triathlete before relocating to Wollongong to live and train alongside Australian Flame athlete Ryan Gregson under coach Ian Hatfield. A junior representative at the 2010 IAAF world cross country championships in Bydgoszcz (POL), where in a time of 24:08 he placed 39th overall, the 19-year-old set a new 5000m best mark of 14:04.77 at the Briggs Athletics Classic in Hobart earlier this year.
Looking to follow in the footsteps of 1996 world junior championships bronze medallist Nathan Deakes, Australia has a team of four walkers taking to the start line in the 10,000m walk including 2010 IAAF World Race Walking Cup (junior race) representatives Rhydian Cowley and Dane Bird-Smith, who will fly the Australian flag in the boys’ event.
Bird-Smith has this year improved on his personal best in the 5000m walk (20:10.40, Sydney Track Classic), the 10,000m walk (43:16.93, Australian Junior Athletics Championships) and the 10km walk (43:17.00, Hobart IAAF Race Walking Challenge). A 2009 world youth championships representative, placing eighth over 10,000m, the 19-year-old is the current Under 20 10,000m walk national champion and a member of the Athletics Australia Under 19 Talent Squad.
The silver medallist behind Bird-Smith at the junior titles in March, Cowley boasts a personal best time of 43:22.00. Competing at the IAAF World Race Walking Cup in Chihuahua (MEX) earlier this year, the 19-year-old Victorian crossed the line in a time of 46:57 to place 15th overall in extremely harsh and hot conditions.
Meanwhile in the girls’ 10,000m walk, Regan Lamble of the ACT will feature alongside fellow Spark Paige Hooper from South Australia.
Lamble has previous international experience on her side, having competed at the 2008 (26th, 49:38.00) and 2010 (15th, 51:16.00) IAAF World Race Walking Cup. At the Hobart instalment of the IAAF Race Walking Challenge in February, the 18-year-old set a new 10km walk personal best mark of 48:11.00 before taking home the Under 20 10,000m national crown in 48:11.34, a new career best, in March.
The silver medallist behind Lamble at the Australian Junior Athletics Championships in a personal best time of 49:12, Hooper has donned the green and gold on multiple occasions. Back-to-back IAAF world youth championships representation in 2007 and 2009 was bordered by a gold medal at the 2008 Pacific Schools Games and further Australian representation at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival last year.
Hooper and her Australian Spark teammates will attend the opening ceremony of the 2010 world junior titles at Stade Moncton on Monday, July 19 ahead of a week-long competition schedule.
For more information on the 13th IAAF world junior championships please click here
13th IAAF world junior
championships
Moncton, Canada
July 19-25, 2010
Boys (20)
100m: Patrick Fakiye (NSW)
200m: Jake Hammond (NSW), Mathew Turk (Vic)
800m: Kuey Diew (Qld), Adrian Plummer (Qld)
1500m: Brett Robinson (ACT), Todd Wakefield
(NSW)
5000m: Kevin Batt (NSW)
110m hurdles: Sam Baines (Vic), Mitchell Tysoe
(NSW)
400m hurdles: Sasha Alexeenko (Qld)
Shot put: Matt Cowie (WA)
Discus throw: Julian Wruck (Qld)
10,000m walk: Dane Bird-Smith (Qld), Rhydian
Cowley (Vic)
4x100m relay: Patrick Fakiye (NSW), Tom Gamble
(Qld), Jake Hammond (NSW), Mathew Turk (Vic)
4x400m relay: Joel Bee (Vic), Grant Billingham
(ACT), Kuey Diew (Qld), Johnny Rayner (Vic), Steven Solomon
(NSW)
Girls (16)
100m: Caitlin Sargent (Qld)
200m: Karlie Morton (NSW), Ella Nelson (NSW)
400m: Anneliese Rubie (NSW)
100m hurdles: Rosie Lawson (Qld)
High jump: Emily Crutcher (NSW), Amy Pejkovic
(NSW)
Pole vault: Amanda Bartrim (NSW)
Long jump: Brooke Stratton (Vic)
Shot put: Kim Mulhall (Vic)
Discus throw: Taryn Gollshewsky (Qld), Kim Mulhall
(Vic)
Hammer throw: Lara Nielsen (Qld)
10,000m walk: Paige Hooper (SA), Regan Lamble
(ACT)
4x400m relay: Louise Maybury (Qld), Anneliese
Rubie (NSW), Caitlin Sargent (Qld), Shannon Smith (Qld)
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