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Welsh Junior Championships 2024 - Preview
08/08/2024 00:00, In Blog / Track & Field /
Almost 450 athletes will take part in this weekend’s Welsh Junior Track and Field Championships in Swansea.
The summer of 2024 has already seen some outstanding performances from Wales’ latest crop of exciting young athletes.
On Saturday and Sunday, it’s the turn of the under-13, under-17 and under-20 athletes to shine.
And there will certainly be an array of talent on show at the Swansea Bay Sports Park on Sketty Lane.
Among them will be some of the most thrilling young sprinters Wales has produced in recent years.
The boys under-17 100m sees an exciting match-up between the likes of Max Evans (Maldwyn Harriers) and Finley Roynon (Cwmbran Harriers), who have both gone well under 11 seconds this season.
Evans has been in sparkling form in recent weeks, winning three golds representing Wales at the SIAB international in Carmarthen and another at the England Athletics Open Championships.
Meanwhile, Roynon has a PB of 10.83, which he set at the Welsh Senior Championships in Cardiff.
Another sprinter who came home with three gold medals from the SIAB international and a gold at the English Championships was Aliyah Afolabi (Cardiff Archers), who is one of the most promising young sprinters in the UK.
Afolabi is comfortably the fastest in the Under-17 girls 100m field as the only athlete to have gone under 12 seconds. Her PB of 11.89 makes her the fastest under-15 sprinter over 100m in the UK.
There’s a plethora talent in the men’s under-20 100m where Commonwealth Youth Games competitor Joseph Berry (Newport Harriers) and Lewis Stephens (Cardiff Athletics), who represented Wales at this year’s Loughborough International, will lead the way on current times.
Meanwhile, Swansea Harriers pairing William Hawker and Marek Warzocha will also be looking to put themselves in the mix.
The Under-20 women’s 100m looks to be a close affair on paper as Olivia Gillespie (Newport Harriers), Eli Jones (Menai Track and Field), Jessica Lee (Carmarthen Harriers) and Jessica Mantle (Cardiff Athletics) have PBs which are separated by just a quarter of a second.
Of course, many of the athletes mentioned above will also feature in the 200m races in the various age groups, while Aliyah Afolabi is also entered into the 300m, where she will face Darcy Coslett (Llanelli Athletics) who is also enjoying a stellar season.
Two of Wales’ top young para sprinters, Will Bishop (Cardiff Metropolitan University Athletics Club) and Tomi Roberts-Jones will go head-to-head over 100m.
The under-13 sprints feature young Jacob Barnes (Cardiff Athletics) who is one of the top three athletes over 100 and 200m in the UK.
Sprinting isn’t the only discipline to witness outstanding performances from young Welsh athletes this season.
One of the stand out athletes over the middle distances will feature in the under-17 women’s 800m.
Libby Hale (Swansea Harriers) has dominated over 1500m this summer, collecting gold medals and national records along the way, but will also feature over the two-lap distance on day two of the championships.
In the field, the male discus competitions will feature the likes of Owen Garrett (Yate and District AC), who recently made the final of the European Under-18 Athletics Championships and Harrison Walsh (DSW Para Athletics) who is preparing for the Paralympics in Paris later this year.
Meanwhile, Lucy Harris (Swansea Harriers) one of the top discus throwers in the UK this year will compete in that discipline and the shot put.
Amongst those to look out for in the under-13 categories will be Katriel Udoh (Swansea Harriers) who is entered in the 100m and the jump – the discipline which sees her ranked third in the United Kingdom.
Ellie Bowen (DSW Para Athletics) and Jac Sheehan (Carmarthen Harriers), who have both enjoyed excellent seasons, go head-to-head in the seated shot.
The action starts at 11am on Saturday morning with the boys under-13 shot, the under-17 men’s hammer, under-20 men’s hammer and the under-17 women’s 300m hurdles, with the final event of the day – the men’s under-20 100 final due to start at 4.20pm.
Sunday’s competition begins with the under-17 women’s 300m and will round off at 4.40pm with the under-17 men’s 200m final.