17 athletes from the MoC Athletics Academy in Lagos competing under the banner of ‘Team MTN’ made significant impact in the first leg of MTN CHAMPS Season 3, the Benin Athletics Classics, which was held across two locations: the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium and UNIBEN Sports Complex from March 13th to 15th.
Team MTN presented two Youth, nine Juniors and four Seniors at the three-day competition and won a total of eight medals: 2 GOLD, 3 Silver and 3 Bronze.
The team dominated the Senior men’s and women’s 400m event. Benjamin Magaji was outstanding in the men’s race, clinching GOLD in the final with a new Personal Best (PB) of 48.04s. He had secured a solid position in the heats the previous day with a then PB of 48.23s, setting the stage for his impressive final performance.
His teammate Miracle Uwem Donald followed suit in the women’s race with her impressive run, securing GOLD with 55.05s. She then posted a time of 25.04s to secure a 5th-place finish in the 200m final.
Jane Onyeneho put on a strong showing in the Senior women’s 200m, winning Silver in the final with 24.58s, after qualifying with 24.47s in the heats. Competing in the Senior men’s 100m and 200m, Showers Ushie clocked made the 200m semis and anchored the Senior men’s 4x100m relay team to Silver with a time of 41.63s.
Moving to the Junior category, Ezekiel Asuquo recorded a solid performance in the men’s 400m, finishing 4th in a keenly-contested final to set a new lifetime best of 47.46s after qualifying for the heats with 48.92s. He also played an instrumental role in both the Junior and Senior men’s 4x100m relays, winning Silver and Bronze medals respectively.
Stephen Adejumo featured in the Junior Men’s 200m and 400m, setting PBs in both. In the 400m, he posted 49.84s in the heats and finished 6th in the final with a new PB of 48.99s, breaking 49s for the first time in his career while Emmanuel Obi was in action in the Junior Men’s 200m/400m and Mixed 4x400m relay.
Patience Joseph competed in both the Junior 200m and 400m, finishing 7th in her 400m final with a Season’s Best (SB) of 58.30s, having dominated her heat by a wide margin. She also ran a PB of 26.33s in the 200m heats.
Also joining the PB rain was Toheebat Jimoh ran in the 200m and 400m in the Junior category, making the final in both events. She raced to a new 200m PB of 25.47s in the heats and placed 8th in the final. Jimoh also ran a PB of 57.32s in her first competitive 400m race.
Sprinter Alvin Onyeama raced in the Junior Boys’ 100m and 200m and broke 11s twice in the course of the 100m, advancing from the heats with a time of 10.97s, followed by a 10.91s clocking in the semis before narrowly missing out on a medal in 4th place. Nevertheless, he anchored the Junior Boys’ 4x100m squad to Bronze to leave Benin with a medal. Also competing in the same events was Emmanuel Oyewale who clocked new PBs in both events and ran a fantastic lead-off leg for the men’s 4x100m squad.
Lucy Nwankwo was a finalist in the Junior Women’s 100m and 200m category, finishing 7th in the former in 12.23s and 6th in the latter where she returned a time of 24.84s, which was a new lifetime best. Junior Women’s 4x100m relay that took home Silver with 48.29s.
Her teammates Azeezat Muhammed-Raji and Mercy Ogbonna also raced in both events, with Muhammed-Raji making the semis in both events and setting a new 100m lifetime best of 12.59s in the process. Ogbonna also set a new 100m PB of 12.46s.
Chizoba Onyemauwa showcased her skills in the Youth Girls’ 200m and 400m respectively, setting PBs and making the final in both events. The talented athlete finished 4th in the shorter race with a new lifetime best of 26.23s and then took things a notch higher in the 400m where she secured the Bronze medal with a PB 58.89s.
Also joining her in the Youth category was Fervent Edet who competed in the Boys’ 100m and 200m respectively, posting times of 11.94s and 11.75s respectively in the shorter event, and 24.31s over 200m.
The relays contributed 5 medals to Team MTN’s medal haul in Benin. The Senior Men’s 4x100m squad comprised of Ushie, Onyeama, Magaji and Asuquo. They secured Silver in 41.63s while Onyeama anchored the Junior men’s 4x100m to Bronze in 42.91s, partnering with Oyewale, Asuquo and Adejumo.
Nwankwo, Ogbonna, Muhammed-Raji and Jimoh also claimed a Silver medal in the Junior women’s 4x100m in 48.29s while the mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Obi, Adejumo, Joseph and Jimoh secured Bronze with a time of 3:36.01.
