Girl’s to watch – Junior National Athletics Championships 2018

Young girls battle to grab National colours

With three junior international championships on the card, Sri Lanka junior athletic season will begin on 23 April with the four day Junior National Championships that will see the cream of junior athletes on the newly laid Sugathadasa Stadium contesting to gain national selection.

South Asian Junior Athletic Championship (SAJAC) (5-6 May), Asian Junior Athletic Championship (June) and IAAF World Junior Championship (July) will be the three international junior events this year. The Junior Nationals will be worked off from 23 to 26 April as the selection trials for all those championships.

Athletics Association (AASL) will focus on picking the SL contingent for the South Asian Junior Athletic Championship where as host, SL can field three athletes in every event. Though, AASL will consider the performances when deciding to field the necessary athletes per event, hence this year’s junior nationals will be an exciting contest. A win in any event would guarantee the much cherished international participation for the juniors.

100m Girls

Ex 400m hurdler Amasha de Silva from Swarnamali GS Kandy shifted her event to 100m only in 2017. This change paid dividends as she clocked 12.01seconds and topped the junior rankings as well as being 3rd in the senior rankings. She will definitely target to dip under 12 seconds at the JNC to be selected for the SAJAC and Asian Junior Championships.

Australian based Sachini Godamune will be running at her homeland soil for the first time at the JNC 2018. Her personal best (PB) is 12.07 recorded in Australia. She is certain to offer close competition to Amasha.

Asian Youth Championships and Commonwealth Youth Games participant Sachini Tharaka of Lyceum College Wattala has recorded 12.25 seconds in Bangkok. St. Mary’s Convent Matara athlete Ewanthi Imeshika also recorded 12.29. Seventeen-year-old Shelinda Jansen of Gateway College 12.43, Madara Weerasooriya 12.46 and another Gateway athlete Shermila Jans, who represented Sri Lanka at the last Asian Junior Athletics Championships in 2016, with 12.48, are also in contention to be the fastest Sri Lanka junior athlete as well as get qualified to the top 4 to join the 4x100m relay team. Perhaps some other athlete would surpass all these. Hence girls’ 100m should not be missed at the JNS 2018 on 26 April.

200m Girls

Sachini Godamune has the best timing in the event with 24.61 which was recorded in 2016 at Brisbane Australia. She will give tough competition to the fastest junior from Kandy Amasha de Silva (Swarnamali GC) who has done a best of 24.77.

Shermila Jans of Gateway College has clocked 25.15 and Sachini Tharaka of Lyceum IS Wattala, are also in fine shape. Madara Weerasooriya of St. Joseph’s GS Kegalle and St. Mary’s Convent Matara athlete Ewanthi Imeshika both shared the clock at 25.51. Ewanthi won a bronze medal at the 42nd National Sports Festival in 2017 in her hometown. She performed that on the grass track. Therefore she too has a potential to improve on her timing. Anyhow, it should not be forgotten that anything can happen in sports. Someone not mentioned could be running faster than anyone mentioned here on the newly laid Sugathadasa Stadium track.

400m Girls

Walala CC athlete Dilshi Kumarasinghe clocked a best time for a junior at 55.70 seconds which is faster than Shivanthi Rathnayake’s gold medal performance of 55.90 at the Asian Junior Athletics Championships at Colombo in 2012.

Again Sachini Tharaka (Lyceum IS) extended her name to the 400m with 56.96. She is among the top performers in all three 100m, 200m and 400m. Sandumini Chaviprabhavi Bandara, the girl from St. Joseph’s GS Kegalle, who missed a bronze in the last moment at the Asian Youth Championships in Bangkok, finished fourth with a time of 57.30. Ambagamuwa CC athlete and 400m hurdles champion Kavindya Thathsarani is also in fine shape in 400m. She has clocked 58.23 seconds to class fourth in the junior rankings. Fourteen-year-old PKS Edirisinghe of President College Nawala clocked an impressive 58.67 and she will be in action and definitely challenge her senior compatriots to get into the top 4 in the event and be selected for the SAJAC. Romeshi Ishara 58.93 should not be counted out of contention since this is her last chance to represent Sri Lanka as a junior athlete.

800m Girls

Following in the senior athletes’ footsteps Dilshi Kumarasinghe of Walala CC will be in action at the JNC 2018. Dilshi is ranked top in both 400m and 800m. Her best time of 2:10.67 recorded at the Asian Junior Championships in 2016 where she finished fifth but establishing a new Sri Lanka record in the800m for under-18. Her SB 2:12.28 is untouchable by the rest and her closest rival from Holy Cross Gampaha Shanika Lakshani who clocked 2:17.73.

Long Jump Girls

Defeating all the senior athletes to become the national champion as a junior athlete is somewhat special. Ridma Nishadi Abeyrathna of Ambalangoda Dharmasoka Vidyalaya did exactly that leaping over 6m. She jumped 6.08 at selection trials for the Asian Championships. Her mark was registered as a new national junior record. She erased Anoma Suriyarachchi’s 6.06m mark established in 1998. Again Ridma sailed over 6m on a grass track at Matara where she became the champion at the national sports festival. Not to be undone, at the Vietnam Open championships she jumped 5.98m to win the bronze in a field of rivals much older than she was.

To challenge Ridma there are three girls from the Army. Nuwanjala Maduwanthi of Dankotuwa BMV recorded 5.68m while 15 year old Gateway College athlete Sadeepa Henderson might be the underdog. Her best has been 5.66m. GRSP Karunanayake too is in the picture as she has already recorded a 5.63m jump.

Analysis by Sameera Lakruwan Perera (AASL)