The junior national trials, targeting the Asian Youth Athletic Championship 2018, which was the first athletic meet for year 2019 was held on the 19 th of January 2019.
The Athletic Association of Sri Lanka (AASL) was compelled to shift the trial dates from February to January with the deadline for entries said to have been brought forward to the 31 st of January. Despite the timing not being ideal for the athletes who are yet to commence the 2019 season, the AASL had announced a challenging qualification criterion aimed at only selecting athletes who can be medal contenders at the Asian Youth Athletic Championship which will be held in Hong Kong.
| Boys | Event | Girls |
| 10.88sec | 100m | 12.25sec |
| 21.95sec | 200m | 25.00sec |
| 48.65sec | 400m | 56.25sec |
| 01:55.50min | 800m | 2:13.50min |
| 4:00.00min | 1500m | 4:40.00min |
| 8:40.00min+ | 3000m | 10:10.00min |
| 14.05sec | 110m H / 100m H | 14.50sec |
| 53.40sec | 400m H | 62.00sec |
| 06:05.00min | 2000m SC | 7:10.00min |
| 1:56.00min | Medley Relay | 2:17.00min |
| 47:30.00min | 10000 RW / 5000 RW | 26:00.00min |
| 2.06m | High Jump | 1.71m |
| 4.70m | Pole Vault | 3.50m |
| 7.20m | Long Jump | 5.80m |
| 14.90m | Triple Jump | 12.20m |
| 18.00m | Shot Put | 15.35m |
| 51.00m | Discus Throw | 42.00m |
| 67.00m | Hammer Throw | 52.00m |
| 70.00m | Javelin Throw | 49.50m |
| 5800 points | Decathlon/Heptathlon | 4200 points |
Qualification standards published by AASL
Here’s a look at the top performers from the Junior Athlete trials.
Rumesh Tharanaga – Discus throw
Peterite Rumesh Tharanga has emerged as one of the most promising young throwers of the country. At the Junior National trials for the Asian Athletic Championship he was the only athlete who managed to achieve the set qualification standard in an event. Despite falling short of the qualification mark in the Javelin throw with a throw of 63.48m while the requested distance was 70.00m, Rumesh managed to push aside the disappointment as he became the only athlete to surpass the qualification mark at the meet with a throw of 51.90m in the Discus throw. Rumesh who is currently the Junior National record holder in the Discus throw event having recorded a distance of 55.34m last year will be one of Sri Lanka’s leading medal prospects at the Asian Youth Athletic Championship.
Milinda Perera – 100m & 200m
Sprinter Milinda Perera of St. Mary’s College Chilaw impressed during the trails with hearty performances in both the 100m & 200m sprints. Milinda’s sprint in the 100m was clocked at 10.80secs and was within the qualification mark of 10.88secs. However, with the wind gauge reading +3.1 it was not entered to the records as a legal performance. In the 200m Milinda clocked an inspiring 22.22secs with the qualification time being 21.95secs.
Sadeepa Henderson – 100m & 200m
The upcoming young sprinter from Gateway Sadeepa Henderson was the stand out female sprinter as she impressed in both short sprints in the meet. In the 100m Sadeepa came ever so close to reaching the qualification mark, she clocked 12.26secs with the qualification time being 12.25secs and was agonizingly short by 0.01secs. the young sprinter was out to make a statement as she delivered another impressive performance in the 200m clocking 25.07secs and was merely 0.07secs away from the set mark of 25.00secs.
Isuru Abeywardane & Navishka Sandesh – 400m
Boy’s quarter mile battle provided an interesting rivalry between Isuru Abeywardane of Ananda Shashthralaya and Navishka Sandesh of St Sebastian’s College Moratuwa. In the heats of the event Isuru managed to impress clocking a time of 48.77secs and came ever so close to the qualification mark of 48.77secs laid down. This performance made him the hot favorite to take the win and possibly surpass the qualification mark in the final. Navishaka Sandesh however had other ideas as he executed his race plan well to take victory in the final, clocking 49.15secs.
Shanika Lakshani – 800m & 1500m
Middle distancer, Shanika Lakshani from Holy Cross College, Gampaha was another athlete who was unlucky not to have achieved the qualification mark despite coming ever so close to doing so in both the 800m & 1500m. Shanika showcased that she was a class apart in both events managing to win comfortably but to her disarray was found just fractions of seconds short. In the 800m Lakshani clocked 2min 16.64secs and was ever so close to the difficult qualification time of 2 min 13.50secs. Despite having already competed in a tough race she delivered an impressive performance in the 1500m as well clocking 4 mins 43.65secs and again was only marginally short of the qualification mark of 4 min 40secs. Despite not managing to achieve the qualification standard she did manage to capture the attention of the athletic fraternity as one to keep an eye on in the middle-distance events.
Amesha Hettiarachchi – 400m Hurdles
A hurdler hailing from Viharamadevi BV Kandy, Amesha Hettiarachchi showcased her potential as a promising prospect for the future as she managed to impress in the 400m hurdles. Despite having competed in the 400m heats merely an hour prior to the run, Amasha clocked an impressive time of 01 min 02.45secs in the 400m hurdles and was only 0.45secs short of the qualification mark which was set at 1 min 2secs.
