News
World junior jumpers get set for action
The countdown to the 13th IAAF world junior
championships will be stepped up a level this weekend, as the
Australian team descends on Brisbane for a three-day competition
and education camp ahead of its departure for the world junior
titles on July 8.
Aimed at educating the 37 athletes about the rigours of
international competition, the camp will be held in conjunction
with a two-day competition at the University of Queensland that
will provide one last chance for athletes to compete ahead of the
worldwide championships from July 19 to 25.
Arriving in the host city of Moncton (CAN) on July 14, the 37-strong team boasts an all-female line-up of jumpers – Amanda Bartrim (pole vault), Amy Pejkovic (high jump), Emily Crutcher (high jump) and Brooke Stratton (long jump).
Clearing a new personal best height of 3.95m at the Australian Junior Championships in March, 19-year-old Amanda Bartrim was crowned the Under 20 national pole vault champion just two weeks after equalling her previous best effort of 3.90m at a NSW Athletics all-comers meet earlier in the month.
A talented high jumper prior to discovering pole vault, Bartrim leapt 3.81m to win gold at the 2008 Pacific Schools Games before taking silver at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney in January, 2009.
Meanwhile on the long jump runway, Victorian Brooke Stratton will fly the flag for Australia in the sand. The winner of four gold medals (long jump, triple jump, 90m hurdles, 200m hurdles) at the 2008 Pacific Schools Games, 16-year-old Stratton also represented Australia at the 2009 world youth championships in Bressanone (ITA).
After back-to-back podium finishes at the Australia Cup in Canberra (6.14m, w:3.5) and the Brisbane Athletics Classic (6.01m, w:0.3) earlier this year, Stratton took home the Victorian open age championships with a 5.99m (w:-0.3) best effort in March, just two weeks after leaping to a new personal best distance of 6.30m (w:1.0) to take out the Under 20 national title at the Australian Junior Championships.
Rounding out Australia’s all-girl jumps line-up are Amy Pejkovic and Emily Crutcher, who will go head-to-head in the high jump.
A dual national title-holder after taking victory in both the Under 18 and Under 20 high jump events at the Australian Junior Athletics Championships in March, Pejkovic travels to Moncton with previous success on the world stage under her belt, taking silver at last year’s IAAF world youth championships.
A member of the Athletics Australia Under 19 Talent Squad, the 17-year-old from New South Wales boasts a personal best height of 1.86m and has this year secured top three finishes at the Briggs Athletics Classic in Hobart and the Australia Cup in Canberra.
The youngest member of the Australian team bound for the championships, 15-year-old Emily Crutcher boasts a personal best height of 1.84m.
The national Under 17 high jump champion, who resides in rural New South Wales, travels over four hours to Sydney on a weekly basis for training under the guidance of coach Marilyn Pearson and is one of the brightest prospects on the national high jump scene.
Departing our shores on July 8, Crutcher and her teammates will acclimatise and compete in Vancouver (CAN) ahead of the world junior championships in Moncton (CAN) from July 19 to 25.
For more information on the 13th IAAF world junior championships please visit the website of the local organising committee here.
REMINDER: Interested athletes are encouraged to compete alongside the world juniors team in Brisbane this weekend.
To learn more about the two-day meet and find out how to register to compete, please click here.
13th IAAF world junior
championships
Moncton, Canada
July 19-25, 2010
Boys (21)
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: Alex Beck (Qld), 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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