The Jamaica Star :: Sport :: Jago's Blake heads Juniors

( L - R ) Kemoy Campbell, Natoya Goule, Yohan Blake

National junior 100 metres record holder, St Jago High's Yohan Blake, heads Jamaica's 31-member squad for the 12th IAAF World Junior Championships.

Blake, who won bronze in the 100m at the last Championships in Beijing, China, is the only returning individual medallist in the squad for the July 8-13 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Top athletes

Dexter Lee and Ramone McKenzie, the World Youth 100m and 200m champions, respectively, along with Natasha Ruddock and Shermaine Williams, silver medallists from the 2005 and 2007 World Youth Championships respectively, are the other top athletes in the squad.

University of Connecticut freshman Trish-Ann Hawthorne, who missed last weekend's trials because of NCAA duties is the new top female sprinter in the squad.

Jamaican-born Hawthorne, 18, who left for the United States at a tender age, has personal-best times of 11.44 and 23.35 for 100m and 200m, respectively.

The full squad:

Female: Kaceya Jones, Jura Levy, Shawna Anderson, Danielle Jeffrey, Antonique Campbell, Natoya Goule, Shermaine Williams, Latoya McDermott, Gayon Evans, Shana-Gaye Tracey, Natasha Ruddock, Amoy Blake, Misha-Gaye DaCosta, Salcia Slack, Nikita Tracey, Kayon Robinson and Trish-Ann Hawthorne.

Male: Vaughn McKenzie, Dexter Lee, Nickel Ashmeade, Yohan Blake, Warren Weir, Rolando Berch, Kemoy Campbell, Ramone McKenzie, Akino Ming, Rasheed Dwyer, Oshane Bailey, Keiron Bailey, Andre Peart and Tarik Batchelor.

Management team: Ian Forbes (manager); Merlene Hamilton and Neville Myton (assistant managers); Jerry Holness (technical leader); Danny Hawthorne (head coach); Mark Prince, Michael Dyke, Leacroft Bolt, Claude Grant (coaches); Ceila Innerarity (masseuse) and Charmaine Scott (doctor).