WSEH talented duo recognised

Published 9 Dec 2009 09:00 0 Comments

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Athletics

WINDSOR, Slough, Eton & Hounslow duo Ben Reynolds and Alan McKie joined the great and good of British athletics as their 2009 achievements were recognised at the UKA Awards Dinner on Saturday, writes George Scott.

Reynolds and McKie rubbed shoulders with the likes of world triple jump champion Phillips Idowu and world 800m bronze medallist Jenny Meadows at the glittering ceremony at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham.

Both were invited to the dinner as part of the UKA Heroes Project and received final funding cheques of £500 and an array of new kit from Meadows.

Reynolds, 19, failed to make to the final of the 110m hurdles at the European Junior Championships in July but after meeting Idowu, Meadows and co., has vowed not to rest on his laurels in 2010.

"I will be stepping up to senior hurdles next year so it'll be senior height and that will suit me a lot more than the junior height," said Reynolds.

"And next year's all about the Commonwealth Games for Northern Ireland and the standard is well within my range.

"I'm also going to university in Louisiana in America in January. I'll be out there for five months so the weather will be great and I'll have some good coaching.

"The Commonwealths should be a great stepping stone because you always want good competition so you can up your game a bit and that's the aim for me."

Meanwhile the highlight of McKie's season was when he claimed England Under-23 high jump silver in Bedford at the end of June with a leap of 2.10m.

However competitions were few and far between shortly after due to a back injury but McKie is adamant that will not be the case next year.

"I'm feeling good and am getting PB's in my bio-metrics and circuits so my body is feeling strong," said McKie.

"It's a long season so hopefully they will be plenty of chances to get a lot of PB's. I'm confident I can go out there and have a really good season and jump some good heights."

UKA Heroes project sponsored by Original Source is a successful initiative which offers financial support to talented young athletes who are working towards the 2012 and 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

This article appeared in Royal Borough Observer 11 Dec 09

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