Pole Vault Pair Earn Poland Pass

Published On: 23 March 2016

WAIS pole vaulters Nina Kennedy and Emma Philippe will headline the Western Australian talent selected to compete for Australia at the 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

The pair qualified at the recent Australian Junior Championships in Perth and will be joined in the Australian squad by recent WAIS scholarship recipient Matthew Ramsden (1500m/5000m) and three fellow Western Australians in; Julian Konle (triple jump), Lachlan McDermott (4x100m relay) and Alana Yukich (400m hurdles/4x400m relay).

Kennedy ‘ who debuted for the Australian Flame at last year’s senior world titles in Beijing ‘ represents a strong medal chance in the women’s pole vault with the Olympic hopeful boasting a personal best of 4.59m.

Both she and Philippe train out of the WAIS High Performance Service Centre in Perth, under the tutelage of renowned pole vault coach Alex Parnov, who has mentored both World and Olympic championship winning athletes.  

Athletics Australia selected an initial squad of 55 athletes for the championships in Poland from July 19-24, with AA Chairman of Selectors Dion Russell enthused by the qualification standard achieved by the group.

“In the wake of so many impressive performances at the Australian Junior Athletics Championships earlier this month, I am confident that the squad will commendably represent the green and gold on the world stage,’ Russell said.

“More than half of those that will compete in individual events were added automatically after performing at a level that saw them select themselves by winning the Selection Trial with a qualifier. This is an excellent result,’ he added.

AA Junior High Performance Manager Sara Mulkearns highlighted the experience that the group are set for, whilst acknowledging the support and pathway development for Australia’s best junior athletes.

“The IAAF World Under 20 Championships are the pinnacle global athletics competition for junior athletes and I congratulate those selected and look forward to sharing the journey with you all,’ she said.

“I also sincerely thank the families, coaches and support networks of our selected athletes for the work that they do to ensure that our best talent can continue to develop in the sport, as well as the Australian Commonwealth Games Association and Athletics International for their financial contribution to making our programs a reality.’