Terrific Tobais

Published 16 Jul 2009 12:00 0 Comments

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Athletics

WINDSOR, Slough, Eton and Hounslow AC sprinter Deji Tobais is keeping his fingers crossed his Aviva English Schools Track and Field Championships victory will secure him a place at the European Junior Championships later this month, by Ryan Bangs.

The 17-year-old stormed to senior boys 100m victory in 10.63 seconds in Sheffield, edging out Cyle Carty in his first year in the senior boys category, having captured intermediate gold last year in Gateshead.

And the starlet, who clocked a new personal best of 10.43 at the recent Aviva England Under-20 Championships, is hoping his victory has done enough to convince the selectors he is worthy of a trip to Serbia.

'I ran the qualifying time for the European juniors in the semi-final which was really pleasing because I had a bit of a headache,' he said. 'But because of how I ran in the semi-final it put a bit more pressure on me because I was expected to win a bit more.

'It was quite tight in the end which made it exciting but I"m just pleased to have won and got the gold.

'I would love to go to the European juniors, especially with it being my first year as a senior, it would be a fantastic experience for me but I"ll have to wait and see if I"m going.'

But Tobias was not the only WSEH star to return home with gold as Laura Burke took the intermediate girls" 300m hurdles title in a club record.

The 16-year-old set a personal best of 42.94 on her charge to glory and admitted it was the perfect way to warm-up for her trip to the European Youth Olympic Festival in Finland this weekend with Great Britain.

'It was fantastic to win and to record a new PB was fantastic - it"s a big confidence booster before Finland,' said Burke.

'I made a few technical mistakes in the race so I will have to put them right before I race in the 400m hurdles.'

Senior girls Sophie Upton and Martha Reynolds had to settle for silver in the pole vault and 1,500m steeplechase respectively.

Leah Barrow also won silver in the intermediate 300m while Ashley Bryant finished second in the senior boys javelin.

Martha Reynolds has been making her mark in the steeplechase all season, a relatively new event for females, and she also won silver in the senior girls event in 5.00.53. Just out of the medals was Chloe Mays, finishing fourth in the inter girls 100m in 12.45.

The Aviva English Schools Track & Field Championships is part of Aviva"s commitment to giving every child in the UK the opportunity to get involved in athletics by 2012. For more information go to aviva.co.uk/athletics.

This article appeared in Royal Borough Observer 17 Jul 09

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