The Great Britain and Northern Ireland U20 team has been announced today for the Loughborough International which is taking place this Sunday 21 May.

The European U20 Championships and Commonwealth Youth Games in August will be the target for many of those selected with this weekend’s event an ideal opportunity to gain valuable experience in an international environment.  Qualification times will be up for grabs for the World Athletics Championships later this summer so the youngsters will be expecting top level competition with teams from England, Scotland and Wales plus Loughborough University at Sunday’s event.

Joy Eze (Michael Donnelly, Gateshead) is again selected for the 100m and 4 x 100m relay and will be looking to improve on her second place in this event last summer after her outstanding indoor season where she took fourth in the 60m at the British Championships and won the England U20 Championships.  Having reached the semi-finals in the World U20 Championships last summer and with a PB of 11.44 she will be confident of securing the 11.65 standard for the European U20s in what will be her outdoor season debut.

In the 3000m Innes Fitzgerald (Gavin Pavey, Exeter) comes into Sunday on the back of an exemplary cross-country season that saw her make her British team debut at just 16 years old at the European Cross Country Championships taking fourth place in Italy.  She started her first season in the U20s at the University of Birmingham track last week with a fourth place, in 9:07.54.

Annie Mann (James Mann, Winchester) took gold in the European U18 Championships last year and has already impressed securing a PB with her 4:18.65 at the BMC event in Birmingham last week.

In the field, Loughborough University student, Sophie Hamilton will be looking to make the most of home advantage as she competes in the javelin.  She has started her season well taking second place at the BUCS championships throwing a PB of 50.21m, exceeding the European qualification standard of 50m.

The Loughborough International will again include some Para events.  Fresh from a fifth place at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Dubai, Madeline Down (Dominic McNeillis, Halesowen) will go in the T38 100m looking to make it two successive victories following her first place at Loughborough last year.

Two of the successful fifth-placed British U20 men’s team from the World Cross Country Championships held in Bathurst, Australia earlier this year are included in Sunday’s team.  Edward Bird (Mark Pauley, Poole AC), who was the highest placed Briton in Australia in 18^th place, started his season in style last week with a big PB of 8:03.52 in the 3000m at the BMC meeting in Birmingham.  This puts him top of the very strong British U20 rankings with six athletes already inside the European standard of 8:15.0.

Luke Birdseye (Shireen Higgins, Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow), will go for the first time this year in the 3000m steeplechase after a very strong cross-country season that included first place at the Loughborough Cross Challenge as well as 28^th at the World Championships.  He will be looking to build on last season’s fourth place at the European U18 Championships in this, his first year as an U20.

In the men’s pole vault, Lazarus Benjamin (Sale Harriers Manchester) will be hoping to get close to his 2022 form that saw him clear 5.30m to take third place at the UK Championships in Manchester. Benjamin, who was equal seventh in the World U20 Championships last summer, will be keen to secure the European qualification standard of 5.10m in his first outdoor performance of 2023.

Darren Ritchie, Head Coach, said, “The Loughborough International coming so early in the season is a great opportunity for these youngsters to make their mark in what will be an exciting summer with the European U20s the target for most this August.  The experience on Sunday will be second to none with top quality athletes performing within an invaluable competition environment. I would especially like to congratulate those making their international debut and I look forward to meeting up with all the team for what will be an exciting weekend.”

The Loughborough International is a key competition opportunity in the British Athletics Olympic Performance Pathway which aims to provide opportunities to prepare, confirm and support promising young athletes on their journey towards future Olympic success.

The event, which gets underway at 11:00am on Sunday, will see teams from England, Scotland, Wales and Loughborough Students also fielding squads with guests also competing in the individual and relay races.

The Great Britain and Northern Ireland Under 20 team selected for the Loughborough International:

Women

100m: Joy Eze (Michael Donnelly Gateshead)

100m Para: Madeline Down (Dominic McNeillis, Halesowen)

200m: Sophie Walton (Trevor Williams, Horwich)

400m: Ashley Nemits (Trevor Painter, Wigan & District)

800m: Ella Greenway  (Joanna Evans, Cleethorpes)

Mile: Annie Mann (James Mann, Winchester)

3000m: Innes Fitzgerald (Gavin Pavey, Exeter)

3000m Steeplechase: Hattie Reynolds (Tim Ash, City of Norwich)

100m Hurdles: Kira Holt (Richard Holt, Kingston & Poly)

400m Hurdles: Emily Newnham (Nick Dakin, Shaftesbury Barnet/Loughborough Students)

High Jump: Gabrielle Garber (Jessica Taylor-Jemmett, Leeds City)

Pole Vault: Charley O’Neill (Adam Lyons, Birchfield Harriers)

Long Jump: Lucy Fellows (Zac Harrop, Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow)

Triple Jump: Amelia Gray (James Coney, Andover)

Shot Put: Cleo Agyepong (John Hillier, Blackheath & Bromley)

Hammer:  Angela McAuslan-Kelly (Jim Green, Thames Valley)

Discus: Zara Obamakinwa (Mark Chapman, Blackheath & Bromley)

Javelin: Sophie Hamilton (David Turner, Bristol & West/Loughborough Students)

4x100m Relay: Sophie Walton (Trevor Williams, Horwich), Joy Eze (Michael Donnelly, Gateshead), Success Eduan (Anita Richardson, Sale), Nia Wedderburn-Goodison (Ruan Freckleton, Harrow), Mia McIntosh (Jake Awe, Harrow), Renee Regis (Tamunonengiye-Ofori Ossai, BFT Track Academy)

4 x 400m Relay: Ashley Nemits (Trevor Painter, Wigan & District), Etty Sisson (Grant Barker, Charnwood), Emily Newnham (Nick Dakin, Shaftesbury Barnet/Loughborough Students), Jessica Astill (Paul Keeble, Stevenage & North Herts), Stephanie Okoro (Tony Benton, Havering)

Men

100m: Rusciano Thomas-Riley (Ronnie Williams, Coventry)

200m: Dejaune Lingard  (Cambridge Harriers)

400m: Thomas Hockley (Katy Odell, Harrow)

400m Para: Lorenzo Millington T20 (Newham & Essex Beagles)

800m: David Race (Kyle Bennett, Gateshead/Loughborough Students)

1500m Para: Arthur Milles (Trevor Cummings, St Mary’s Richmond)

Mile: Dan Galloway (Stuart Hamilton, Telford AC)

3000m: Edward Bird (Mark Pauley, Poole AC)

3000m Steeplechase: Luke Birdseye (Shireen Higgins, Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow)

110m Hurdles: Daniel Goriola (Tony Jarrett, Bexley)

400m Hurdles: Onyeka Okoh (Julie Benterman, Chelmsford)

High Jump: Luke Ball (Jeremy Dale, Yate)

Pole Vault: Lazarus Benjamin (Andy Ashurst/Matt Cullen, Sale Harriers Manchester)

Long Jump: Oreofeoluwa Adepegba (John Herbert, Newham & Essex Beagles)

Triple Jump: Daniel Akinradewo (Tom Cullen, Trafford)

Shot Put: Isaac Kambamba Delaney (Greg Beard, Preston)

Hammer: Owen Merrett (Matt Spicer, Yate)

Discus: Teddy Gannon (Gary Power, Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow)

Javelin: Callum Taylor, (Bronwin Carter, Harrow)

4x100m Relay: Dejaune Lingard  (Cambridge Harriers), Dean Patterson (Norrie Hay, Glasgow School of Sport), Rusciano Thomas-Riley (Ronnie Williams, Coventry) U23 Mixed Futures Team

4 x 400m Relay: Onyeka Okoh (Julie Benterman, Chelmsford), Sam Lunt (Andrew Fraser, Wirral), Thomas Hockley (Katy Odell, Harrow), Dylan Purton (Steven Munday, Medway & Maidstone), David Race (Kyle Bennett, Gateshead/Loughborough Students)

Team Staff

Head Coach – Darren Ritchie

Team Manager – Nadia Benallal

Team Coach Sprints & Relays – Sharon Morris & Jake Awe

Team Coach Hurdles – Julie Pratt-Benterman

Team Coach Endurance – Hayley Hemmings & Dan Stepney

Team Coach Throws – Mark Chapman

Team Coach Jumps – Andy Ashurst

Team Therapist – Becky Knight