[Photo/courtesy]Team Kenya comprising 59 athletes proceeds to residential training on Sunday in Nairobi ahead of the IAAF World Under-18 Championships slated for July 12 to 16.Athletics Kenya selected the team during the two-day national trials that ended on Wednesday at the Nyayo Stadium. The team that will put up at Milele Hotel, Nairobi under head coach Kariuki Gikonyo and team manager Barnaba Kitilit, will train at Nyayo Stadium. AK youth committee chairman Barnaba Korir said that the rest of the Team Kenya management will be picked before the camp is open.World Under-20 5,000m silver medallist Emmaculate Chepkirui, who won the girls 3,000m during the trials, headlines the youth team that also has sensational javelin throwers Cynthia Chebet and Ita Nao, and 400m hurdler Irene Akinyi.Kenya has topped the medal standings twice in the youth championships. They will be held for the last time next month in Nairobi as the IAAF moves its focus to continental championships.Kenya claimed the overall title during the inaugural 1999 event in Bydgoszcz, Poland with 10 medals; five gold, two silver and three bronze and at the sixth edition held in Brixen in 2009 where they hauled 14 medals - six gold, seven silver and one bronze.Kenya finished second behind USA with 13 medals - five gold, four silver and four bronze, at the previous competition held in 2015 in Cali, Colombia.Gikonyo reckons that he has a big team and the technical bench will take two days to asses each individual before coming up with a detailed training programme.“It’s an advantage to us as the hosts as it gives the youngsters a chance to take a shot at the big stage,” said Gikonyo.He added that they would have to pay back the good efforts the government, Local Organising Committee and Athletics Kenya had put in with good results on home soil.“It’s a tough task but we are confident of a good show so long as everybody plays their part well in moulding the youth.”At the same time, a squad of 14 athletes - five women and nine men, were also selected during the trials to represent Kenya at the Africa Under-20 Championships scheduled for June 29 to July 2 this year in Tlemcen, Algeria.The team, handled by Gabriel Kiptanui as head coach and team manager Henry Lebo, leaves the country on July 26 for the Northern Africa country. USA-based 200m sprinter Moffat Ngari, who captained Team Kenya for the World Under-20 Championships in Poland last year, is in the team alongside World Under-18 2,000m steeplechase silver medallist Sandra Chebet, who was also in Poland.Chebet is the only surviving member of the Kenya team that competed in the previous 2015 Africa Under-20 Championships held in Addis Ababa. She won bronze in 3,000m.Others in the team are Josephine Chelangat (800m), Joyline Jerotich (1,500m) and Sheila Chelangat (5,000m), who were also in Poland.

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