Cambridge & Coleridge Athletic Club trio to represent Great Britain
A trio of Cambridge & Coleridge Athletic Club members are destined for Great Britain duty in the next month.
Jack Gray, Julia Paternain and Thomas Keen are all part of Mark Vile’s training group at C&C, and are set to compete for the country in European competition.
Paternain has been named in the GB squad for the 10,000m at the European Under-23 Championships in Gavle, Sweden from July 11 to 14.
The 19-year-old is currently studying at Penn State University in the US, and achieved her qualifying time of 33min 22.91sec in the Big Ten Championships in Iowa City.
“It feels amazing,” she said of a first call-up to a GB squad.
“It is such an honour to be able to represent Great Britain and I am very excited for the opportunity. This has been a huge aim for a couple of years now so it feels great.
“Also it is encouraging to see that both my coaches and my own hard work has finally come together. Mark Vile and the entire C&C club have also been supportive from my early days as a runner so I am also very happy that this is an opportunity to showcase our own local running community.
“And I have never been to Sweden so it will be fun to spend some time in a new city.”
Age had restricted Paternain to 3,000m before this season, but she had always felt more suited to the longer distances of 5,000m and 10,000m.
Paternain qualified for the NCAA final in the 5,000m in Austin, and got to race against the top 24 girls in the country as a freshman.
“It is going really well [in the US],” she said. “I had a fantastic experience and loved my first year out there.
“Everyone has been very friendly, supportive and welcoming. I haven’t even really been homesick.
“Penn State really feels like my second home now! I have formed a good relationship with the coaches out there and they have been extremely supportive of both my goals for running within and outside the US.”
As for her goals in Sweden, Paternain added: “I just want to enjoy the experience and see what I can do. I want to put myself in the mix and compete and just test myself against the other girls who will be there. I have gained more experience racing the 10,000m since I ran my PB so I can know what to expect a little more.”
Gray has been selected by GB for the European 10,000m Cup at Highgate, earning his first GB vest and the training group’s first GB senior international call-up.
Keen won the European Under-20 Championship men’s 3,000m trial at Watford to compete in Sweden next month. He also has the qualifying time for the 1,500m and was second in the trials, with his preference to compete at the shorter distance.
