New Nigeria high jump record holder, Temitope Adeshina, sprinter Rosemary Chukwuma and quartermile barrier runner, Nathaniel Ezekiel will lead close to 10 bonafide Nigerians who will be challenging for NCAA Division Indoor Championships medals for their respective Universities next weekend in New Balance in Boston, Massachusetts.
Adeshina will be competing in her first NCAA indoor championship and the Texas Tech undergraduate student will be hoping to make it a memorable one after clearing herself into contention with the 1.96m new Nigeria record she set last month.
Also cleared to make her debut is sprinter, Success Umukoro who raced to a 7.17 seconds lifetime best in her first season at Texas Tech University. She will be joined by Rosemary Chukwuma who will be making another attempt to get to the podium.
Chukwuma has also been cleared by the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Track and Field and Cross Country Committee to compete in the 200m after running 22.97 this season.
Ella Onojuvwevwo will only compete in the 4x400m event as she was not cleared to compete in the individual 200m and 400m.
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For the men, African U18 200m and 400m champion, Samuel Ogazi did not make the cut to compete in the 400m but he has been listed among the University of Alabama 4x400m quartet for the Championship.
Cleared to run in the individual 400m are Ezekiel Nathaniel who got close to breaking late Sunday Bada’s African indoor record with his 45.54 run and Dubem Amene who holds a 45.75 best this year.
Despite making the cut to run with the 6.53 seconds he ran this year which ranks him the fifth fastest over the 60m pre-championships, Favour Ashe was not considered eligible to run following his arrest by the Auburn on multiple counts of theft and fraud.
Kanyinsola Ajayi may have won the SEC Championship 60m title but his 6.60 seconds run is ranked 21st in the NCAA going to the Championship and thus fails to make the final 16 cut.