Serena Vincent called up by England for World Schools Championship in Croatia

The 17-year-old City of Portsmouth athlete will compete in the Hampshire Championships first, which take place on May 11 and May 12, and then travel to Split the following day where she will feature in the prestigious competition.

She is among a very talented England squad and it will be another good international experience.

The event is for athletes aged 15 to 18 and in total 12 of the best in the country have been selected.

Vincent will double up in her favoured event the shot and also the 100m.

She has already enjoyed an excellent start to the year after moving up to the under-20 age group. She won the South of England indoor shot title with a championship best performance and the England Championships indoors in Sheffield with a personal best of 14.83m.

Outdoors she won the under-20 Home Countries International in Cardiff with a championship best performance, before stepping up to under-23 competition in the European Throwing Cup for Great Britain and finishing in a good seventh position in Slovakia.

In Croatia 37 different nations will be taking part and England won the event two years ago when it was last held.

The opening ceremony takes place on May 14, the competition is on May 15 to May 16 and the friendship relay takes place on May 17, which is a cultural day and intercultural festival. The friendship relay continues on May 18 along with the closing ceremony and awarding ceremony.

Athletics has a rich and long history in the International School Sport Federation (ISF). It is organised as a World Schools Championship and included in the School Summer Games (Summer Gymnasiade) as an obligatory sport.

The first World Schools Championship in athletics was organised in 1973. Since the 1987 edition the WSC is dedicated to Jean Humbert, former President of the ISF Technical Commission for athletics.

The England team in full is: Mia Chantree – 300m hurdles and high jump (Essex); Emily Williams – 800m (Northamptonshire); Serena Vincent – shot put and 100m (Hampshire); Jasmine Jolley – 300m hurdles and long jump (Lancashire); Abigail Pawlett – 100m and high jump (Cheshire); Jenna Blundell – 100m hurdles and long jump (Avon); Dominic Ogbechie 200m and long jump (London); Joshua Douglas – discus (Hampshire); Jack Higgins – 800m (Kent); Harrison Thorne – high jump and 110m hurdles (Berkshire); Theo Adesina – long jump and 110m hurdles (Essex); Raphael Bouju – 100m and long jump (Bedfordshire).